Jonathan Rauch has words of wisdom

A couple of weeks ago I waxed witty at the expense of Washington author Jonathan Rauch in a snappy piece titled “Jonathan Rauch has words of wisdom. Or not.”. Well, that was then, that is, that was before House Speaker John Boehner fell on his sword out of sheer frustration with the Tea Party’s incessant efforts to shut down the government over something. Well, out of respect for John’s corpse, the Republicans didn’t shut down the government this week, but I strongly suspect that this level of restraint won’t last long. The federal debt limit will have to be raised this November and I think the odds are that the Republicans will refuse to do that, just to see what will happen if Uncle Sam stops paying his bills. The Tea Party has been dying to tip the government over ever since they arrived in town back in 2010, and I think their hour is coming around at last.

What does Jon has to say about all of this? Speaking directly to the libertarian crowd at Reason, Jon told Nick Gillespie “It is not in [your] interest to just obstruct on the grounds that everything gets worse if Congress does nothing. What really happens if Congress does nothing is power flows to the president, who does what he damn well pleases.”

I think that’s exactly right, and in particular, if Congress refuses to raise the national debt limit I think President Obama will act to raise it on his own, citing Section 4 of the 14th amendment “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.” The last time around, in 2012, the White House rejected the possibility of unilateral action, but that was then. I think if the president did act unilaterally, he would have the backing of the entire business community,¹ and the Republicans would be hoist on their own Jacobin petard.

For the past 20 years, I have read comments by “experts” from the left, right, and center about how dispiriting it is to testify before Congress, regardless of who is in charge, and regardless if you are offering “friendly” or “unfriendly” testimony. Regardless of the party, regardless of the topic, no one has the least interest in your arguments. You are there to be used in a political charade that has nothing to do with the issue ostensibly at hand. In his interview with Gillespie, Rauch bemoans the shift of power away from Congress, but the simple fact is, Congress wants it that way. They don’t want to make the tough decisions. They’ll give out the good news. That’s their job. The president will give out the bad news. That’s his job. Until the 2014 mid-term elections, President Obama struggled manfully—or pathetically, depending on your point of view—to meet Congress half-way. Since then, he’s enjoyed big wins on both immigration and the Iran deal by ignoring Congress. I won’t be surprised if doesn’t continue to go down this path, and I also won’t be surprised if Congress lets it happen. Anything to avoid having to take responsibility!