The Debt Ceiling and M.A.D. (Mutually Assured Destruction)

During the Cold War, the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction referred to the unthinkable possibility of a nuclear war between the United States and the USSR.

Today, M.A.D. can be more appropriately viewed as the potential for US debt default as the Republicans and Democrats fail to find common ground for an agreement.

In the latest news, the House Speaker , John Boehner has declared as dead and buried President Obama’s push to seek a ‘grand agreement’ that would result in $4 trillion worth of deficit reduction.

This agreement would have seen cuts in entitlements such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as the Pentagon’s budget.  In return, tax loopholes for corporations and the very wealthy would be closed, including allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire for the richest Americans.

Boehner and the Republicans did not see any wiggle room from their caucus that would allow the possibility of tax increases for the wealthy, so the current discussions have now been discontinued.

Discussions will likely resume Sunday focusing on a smaller deficit reduction cut of $2 trillion, lesser indeed but still unprecedented after many years of runaway deficit spending.

This, however, sets the discussions back and caused the Senate Democratic majority and Republican Tea-Party influenced majority in the House to dig in their ideological heels even further.

There now seems to be the distinct possibility that agreement may not be reached by August 2, by which time, the Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner has said that the US would likely enter default.

Thus the term, M.A.D. or mutually assured destruction seems relevant.  Will the Republicans and Democrats hold hands and jump off the cliff together?  It is looking more likely as each side has already begun to apportion the blame for failure to reach agreement on the other side. Both will be blamed for failure, that much is certain.

What are your thoughts? As the clock nears midnight, will there be an agreement? Take our poll and let’s know what you think.

Tags: boehner, Congress, deadline, debt ceiling, featured, geithner, President Obama, US debt

Category: News and Opinion