The Republican Party has asked the Democrats to commit suicide in order to raise the federal debt limit. From the New York Times
While congressional aides cautioned that the deal was not yet clinched, officials briefed on the negotiations said the emerging accord would increase spending by $80 billion, not including emergency war funding, over two years above the previously agreed-upon budget caps.Those increases would be offset by cuts in spending on Medicare and Social Security disability benefits, as well as savings or revenue from an array of other programs, including changes to the nation’s strategic petroleum reserves.
I'll make this simple, if the Democrats do this -- and it would have to pass mainly with Democratic support -- it will be a gift to the Republican Party. Elderly Americans will hear that Democrats cut their healthcare and Social Security in order to fund fruity leftwing programs. It doesn't matter that this is not exactly true, low information voters are going to buy it.Everything I've seen of Donald Trump convinces me that he's a pragmatist. He has an answer for the decline of the American middle class -- apartheid. It's certainly not a good answer, but if its a choice between a bad answer and no answer, I worry about the outcome of the election. If Congress does this Trump would be stupid not to position himself as the protector of elderly, white, Americans social security checks.
While it pains me to say this, if its a choice between default and President Trump, I would urge Democrats to consider default. Trump has already stated that he wants to round people up and put them in camps pending deportation and endorsed violence against protestors at his campagin stops. The historical precedents for this kind of behavior are not good. I would urge Democrats to, this once, consider that their political survival might be more important to the country than even the most pressing of present needs.