It’s still extortion for the sake of extortion - Jonathan Bernstein

The inevitable Republican surrender is one step closer now that Boehner can't put together anything that can gain Democratic assent, which, since they hold a majority in the Senate, is necessary.  Why then do the Democrats hold the cards?  Because default really is an unacceptable option - and everyone knows that it would be the Republican Party's fault if it happened.  The U.S. as the rock of Gibraltar is not something Americans are willing to abandon.  We pay our bills.  The block quote blow is Bernstein quoting himself back in May - which he is entitled to do because he was right then and now.   He has become one of our most prolific and insightful political observers.  His work appears in Salon, American Prospect, the Washington Post and his own A Plain Blog About Politics.  - GWC
It’s still extortion for the sake of extortion:
by Jonathan Bernstein // Washington Post

I]t’s not really about Republicans demanding debt reduction and using the best leverage they have available to get it. Nor is it about Republicans demanding tax reform — their other possible demand — and using the best leverage they have to get it.

No, it’s the other way around. The House crazy caucus is demanding not debt reduction, not spending cuts, not budget balancing, but blackmail itself. That’s really the demand: The speaker and House Republican leaders absolutely must use the debt limit as extortion. What should they use it to get? Apparently, that’s pretty much up for grabs, as long as it seems really, really, big — which probably comes down to meaning that the Democrats really, really don’t like it.

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