The U.S. government finally hit the legal limit on how much money it can borrow yesterday, raising fears that this country soon may not be able to pay its bills. Welcome to death-stage capitalism.
The ongoing fight over the debt limit, which has now surpassed $31 trillion, can sound technical, but it’s pretty simple and could potentially affect everyone. If the US defaults on its debts, it could destroy financial markets around the world. Your investments and 401(k) could quickly follow. As money dries up, businesses could be forced to shut down or downsize, taking jobs with them. It’s a worst-case scenario, but it shows the importance of increasing the debt limit.
Fortunately, the level-heads in Washington have a plan…just kidding, we’re probably on our own. Republicans are using the growing possibility of a debt-limit increase — and the threat of default — as leverage to cut government spending they disagree with (things like social services, education, healthcare, etc.). Meanwhile, their counterparts are accusing them of adopting a similar stance to a hostage-taking situation. The two sides can’t even agree on whether or not to negotiate.
We can continue the illusion that this country always pays off its debts, or we can acknowledge the reality that shifting the goalposts doesn’t actually address the issue, which at its core is reckless and bottomless spending on military and policing.
Side Items
French Rioting Again: The president of France Emmanuel Macron proposed raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, and the response was less than ideal. Over a million French folk flooded the streets yesterday in protest over the proposed changes. Workers halted high-speed trains and disrupted electrical services, and Macron’s police did what police everywhere do, beat the daylights out of nonviolent protesters
They’re Charging Me with Manslaughter Lemon: After months of uncertainty, Alec Baldwin will be charged with involuntary manslaughter for his involvement in the deadly 2021 shooting of a cinematographer on the set of his film “Rust”. The Santa Fe District Attorney issued a statement yesterday announcing the charges against Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who supervised weapons on the set of the Western film
Harvard & Human Rights: The prestigious ivy-league institution recently came under fire for retracting a fellowship offer given to Ken Roth, the former head of Human Rights Watch. Was Mr. Roth implicated in wrongdoing or accused of a crime? Not at all. Instead his rejection was due to his past criticism of Israel. The dean of harvard’s Kennedy School, Doug Elmendorf, allegedly cited an “anti-Israel bias” as well as Roth’s tweets on Israel in his decision to block the fellowship. While Mr. Roth will get this fellowship he fully deserves, this instance only highlights the opposition people face when speaking facts about Israeli injustice