| So Pete Hoekstra, who earlier wasn’t running for Senate but now is, today aptly showed why he has no business joining what’s been called “the world’s greatest deliberative body.” In throwing his support behind the House GOP plan that has no chance of passage and would destroy the economy if it did (aka “The Who Needs Recession When Depression is Possible Act of 2011”), Hoekstra offered the following (according to subscription-only MIRS): "No deal is better than a really bad deal," Hoekstra said. ". . . A three-day or four-day shutdown would be extremely painful, but good things could come out of it." Here’s the thing. We’re not talking about a shutdown. We’re talking about an historic, first-time-ever default. We’re talking about a situation where, for the first time ever, the world’s largest economy defaults on its loan obligations, potentially forfeiting our status as the currency-of-record as a result. A situation that would cost every homeowner, credit card holder, student loan holder, investor, and consumer more as a result of higher interest rates. As bad as a government shutdown is (and Pete should know, as a member of the House GOP caucus that shut down the government in 1995), it’s impact is of a different scale than the potential default Hoekstra and his GOP buddies in Washington seem intent on. |
