Demanding Default

Not to be believed, yet here it is in "print."

Whether Boehner’s team can survive such a public failure will be of interest to political gossips. But the thwarting of the Boehner Plan also displayed how ungovernable the House Republican majority is. With the nation just days from a default, the chamber is at the mercy of a handful of people who believe they are on a mission from God.

“Where’s the chapel?” Rep. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) asked as he emerged from an arm-twisting session with Majority Leader Eric Cantor Thursday night. The freshman lawmaker explained that he wanted to “go to the divine source.”

In a room off the Capitol Rotunda, Scott joined a prayer session with fellow South Carolinian lawmakers. “I hope the Lord. . . gives men wisdom when they desperately need it,” Scott explained.

As it happens, the Lord gave Scott the wisdom to oppose Boehner. “I think divine inspiration already happened,” Scott said. “I was a ‘lean no’ and now I’m a ‘no.’” And he’s not much worried about default, saying: “I hope the Lord blesses our nation in a way that is measurable.”

The Lord will surely bless the nation with higher interest rates, if not outright economic collapse, in a default. But Thursday night’s debacle proved that there are enough House Republicans who would prefer that to raising the debt limit – even if they bring down their speaker in the process.

Christ on a crutch.

A few tipsy GOP lawmakers, returning from dinner, pretended to give tours of the statues in the Capitol. They, and the leadership, continued to insist a vote was imminent. But just before 10:30 p.m., McCarthy emerged from the speaker’s office to call it off for the night.

Lawmakers got to work on the Sisyphean task of retooling the Boehner Plan into a more conservative proposal that was also certain to be rejected by the Senate. Regardless, damage had been done – both to Boehner’s speakership and to the House, now under the control of people who think God demands default.

Bring it on. If we don't get August's Social Security payment & find ourselves on the street again, NO ONE WILL BE SAFE!!