The Self-Mutilation ofLeadership Power

Who will give in before a bankrupt America drags the rest of the world into a catastrophe? The Republicans have only one goal with their budget fight.

If Ronald Reagan were president, tea party partisans would be forced to hound him from office. During his eight years in office, the U.S. debt ceiling was raised 11 times, in his opinion for the good of the nation. He hadn’t yet attained the status of saint in those days.

Reagan transgressed against principles that now, 30 years later, are considered in his name to be inviolable. Republican negotiators today are unwilling to consider even minuscule tax increases in order to keep the nation from a fatal heart attack. President Obama, who has agreed to more cuts in social programs than many in his party are willing to tolerate, can’t even negotiate with them any longer. Who will give in before an insolvent America drags financial markets into a catastrophe?

Main objective: One term only for Obama

Upon closer inspection, one can’t be certain whether cynicism or blindness drives the Republicans toward a different, less America-oriented world. Not even Obama, who stayed out of the budget fray for too long, believed how serious his opponents would become. Their goal isn’t really to salvage the budget; no serious economist claims that can be accomplished without revenue increases.

The main objective, as Republicans openly brag, is to prevent Barack Obama from being re-elected to a second term. He’s doomed to be the next Jimmy Carter, a despised presidential failure; certainly not the next Bill Clinton, a despised presidential success who left his successor a gigantic budget surplus.

In order to reach their goal, the Republicans, who themselves are divided on their tactics, are willing to accept what amounts to a self-mutilation of leadership power. During wartime, intentionally wounding oneself is considered desertion, and in peacetime, it’s a sign of insanity. In international politics, all of America’s friends have to be deeply worried.

Barack Obama assured the public that the negotiations were being handled by adults. Proof of that from the Republicans is not yet evident, but it is Obama’s responsibility to come up with a solution that is face-saving for both sides. That’s the only hope moderate Republicans have to help themselves out of the hostage situation in which the tea partiers currently hold them.

America’s AAA credit rating isn’t chiseled on some biblical stone tablet. Nobody wants to continue loaning money to a deadbeat. Nothing lasts forever. Adults in the United States and elsewhere really need to understand that.