Boehner Considering Not Completely Fucking the Country Over Before He Vacates Office
While Boehner is almost sure to stave off a government shutdown before the September 30 deadline, the looming debt ceiling—which we’re estimated to reach sometime in mid-December—presents a much larger problem. But earlier this morning, Boehner told reporters that he’s not ruling out a vote to raise the country’s borrowing limit. And considering Boehner’s replacement will likely be far more compliant to the party’s whims, this could be the best chance we’ve got.
Because far-right wing republicans are only willing to fund the government through December if it also means defunding Planned Parenthood (essentially making it an inevitability that both bills fail), the caucus threatened to oust Boehner if he didn’t play along party lines. But now that Boehner has given himself the boot, he’s free to follow his own interests—which in this case, means avoiding sending the government into a financial crisis, at least for now.
This also means that the real problem would come a few months from now, when we finally reach a debt ceiling that, theoretically, should have been raised months ago. The reason it was not raised is because congress is the congealed, matted ball of hair and filth in productivity’s shower pipes. But now, Boehner has given at least a semblance of hope that he might actually clear the way before things get dire:
We’ll have to see. There’s a number of issues we’re gonna have to try to deal with over the coming month, but I’m not going to change my decision making process in any way... It’s just a matter of, if there is a way to get some things done so I don’t burden my successor, I’m gonna get it done.
Raising the debt-ceiling should be a no-brainer—otherwise, the country risks defaulting on its debts. And as Treasury runs out of cash, it would have to start prioritizing what it does and doesn’t pay out, meaning benefits like Social Security would likely be the first go.
But because making inane promises to not raise the debt ceiling has been a longtime favorite (if wholly meaningless) line of promise on the conservative campaign trail, GOP members of congress often try to stave off the inevitable as much as possible. Which can ultimately lead to a government shutdown like the one we experienced two years ago.
Since Boehner currently has nothing to lose by keeping the government running as it should, he’s our best hope for avoiding another pointless political standoff. Especially since his most likely successor is Kevin McCarthy, who is already promising to stand for the “conservative cause” in ways that Boehner was—and if we’re lucky, still is—not.
