"Iowa has two Senators, one a Republican (Charles Grassley), the other a Democrat (Tom Harkin).
Each has voted seven times since 2002 on a bill to raise the nation's debt ceiling. Look back at those votes, and an interesting pattern emerges: Every time a Republican president has needed the debt ceiling raised to keep government functioning, Sen. Grassley, the Republican, has voted to raise it, while the Democrat, Sen. Harkin, has voted against it. But when a Democratic president has asked for an increase, their votes reverse: Sen. Harkin has voted in favor, and Sen. Grassley has voted against it.
That, in a nutshell, shows why it's so absurd that Washington is headed toward a showdown over debt and the deficit tied to the question of whether to raise the national debt ceiling. Few exercises produce as much cynical and overtly partisan behavior by elected officials as do votes on the debt ceiling."
Exactly why modern-day partisan politics is not any kind of solution for truly serious problems. Legislators vote on a hive-mind basis, not on the basis of the merits of the issue before them.
AspenValley wrote: Exactly why modern-day partisan politics is not any kind of solution for truly serious problems. Legislators vote on a hive-mind basis, not on the basis of the merits of the issue before them.
lol Actually the Republicrats do have party outliers who won't vote for the increase in the debt ceiling, but it always passes once the posturing does down.
Obama voted down the debt ceiling when he was a senator but wants it passed now.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
