Just as it’s a good idea to child-proof a home before having toddlers over for a birthday party, congressional Democrats should be doing what they can during the current lame-duck session to prepare for the incoming Republican House majority — a crowd that has literally announced its intention to threaten America’s fiscal stability, block election reforms and abandon Ukraine. The current Democratic majority, working with whatever responsible Republicans they can get on board, can extremist-proof Congress in some important ways between now and January.
Anyone who might be offended by the comparison between unruly toddlers and a GOP House majority should consider the words of Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., who is in line for a major budget post under the incoming GOP House majority: “The American people expect Congress to use every tool at its disposal” to press the Biden administration on issues like taxes, energy policy and the border, Smith said recently, “and the debt ceiling absolutely is one of those tools.”
Translation: Holding America’s full faith and credit hostage to an array of partisan issues — as Republicans did a decade ago, kneecapping the government’s credit rating for the first time ever — is something Smith and his cohorts are vowing to do again.
