Politics | Voter.org

The Case for Debt-Ceiling Optimism

May 25, 2023 case, Optimism, debtceiling0 comment

As the government careens toward the brink of default without a deal to lift the debt limit, an unlikely source of reassurance has emerged. “I think everyone needs to relax,” Mitch McConnell told reporters on Tuesday in his home state of Kentucky. “The country will not default.” The longtime Republican leader, who once boasted of being the Senate’s “grim reaper,” isn’t known for his soothing bedside manner. His equanimity was hard to reconcile with the vibes emanating from the Capitol on that particular day, where House Republican negotiators were accusing…

The Most Dangerous Democrat in Iowa

May 21, 2023 Most, Democrat, Iowa, Dangerous0 comment

The third graders were not interested in meeting the state auditor. It was career day at Samuelson Elementary School in Des Moines, and Rob Sand had assembled a table in the gymnasium alongside a dozen other grown-ups with jobs. All the other adults had brought props: the man from the bathroom-remodeling company handed out yellow rubber ducks, a local doctor let the kids poke and prod a model heart, and an engineer showed off a long, silly-looking tube that had something to do with the mass production of hot dogs.…

Why Biden Caved

May 17, 2023 caved, Biden0 comment

The White House and Congress have not made much progress in their talks to avert an unprecedented, and potentially calamitous, national default that could occur as soon as early June. But on the most fundamental point of dispute, President Joe Biden has already caved: He’s negotiating with Republicans over the debt ceiling. For months, the president’s ironclad position has been that the debt ceiling is not a bargaining chip. No longer would Democrats allow Republicans to hold hostage the nation’s creditworthiness and economic prestige. Paying the government’s bills by raising…

The Abortion Absolutist

May 13, 2023 abortion, Absolutist0 comment

This article was featured in One Story to Read Today, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a single must-read from The Atlantic, Monday through Friday. Sign up for it here. T he sky above Boulder was dark when the abortion doctor picked me up for dinner. I had to squint to recognize Warren Hern in his thick aviator glasses and fur-trapper hat. At the restaurant—a kitschy Italian spot along a pedestrian mall—Hern ignored the table the waiter offered us, pointed at one in the corner, and clomped over in…

Nikki Haley’s Dilemma Is Also the Republicans’ Problem

May 9, 2023 dilemma, Problem, also, Nikki, Haley’s, Republicans0 comment

Republicans have had 10 months to hammer out a coherent post-Roe message on abortion. You would think they’d have nailed it by now. Yet on Tuesday, Nikki Haley set out to declare her position on the issue—and proceeded to be about as clear as concrete. She began with plausible precision. “I want to save as many lives and help as many moms as possible,” the former South Carolina governor and ambassador to the United Nations told reporters gathered at the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America headquarters, in Northern Virginia—a press…

This Debt Crisis Is Not Like 2011’s. It’s Worse.

May 5, 2023 debt, crisis, This, It's, like, worse, 2011’s.0 comment

On its surface, the unfolding debt-ceiling crisis looks a lot like the confrontation in 2011 between congressional Republicans and then-President Barack Obama. Once again, a new GOP majority in the House is using the threat of a national default as leverage to force a first-term Democratic president to agree to spending cuts in exchange for lifting the federal borrowing limit. A first-ever default could crash the markets and trigger a recession. But, as in 2011, the two parties remain far apart, with a deadline to act approaching rapidly. Eric Cantor…