With seven days until the August 2 deadline on the debt ceiling, the Hill today checks the temperature of the body politic:
Almost 3 in 4 voters — 71 percent — say they are either not very confident or not at all confident that the body politic will get a real grip on the debt problem.
And why should anyone believe anything, at this point? Ezra Klein writes that Democrats have lost in that they're now floating deals to lower the deficit that are all-cuts, no-revenue, and that even so, Republican may not have the good sense to accept the terms they've demanded. Republicans in the House and Democrats in the Senate are now formulating competing plans, each hoping to pull enough moderates across the aisle to win. At least one of the House's Tea Party freshmen, Congressman Joe Walsh of Illinois, is getting a mixed reception back home. From Bloomberg:
"The thing that concerns me the most is a default," Jeanne Marie Dauray, a 39-year-old paralegal, asked Walsh in a town hall meeting. "Isn't this of concern?"
The two parties are expected to start robocalling on the debt ceiling. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee posted its script for 60 districts today:
"Hi, this is Travis calling on behalf of the DCCC. Congressman Tom Latham and Speaker Boehner would rather our economy default just to protect tax breaks for Big Oil companies and billionaire jet-owners. Republicans quit negotiating with President Obama on raising the debt ceiling."This is serious. Latham's billionaire buddies will be ok. But we will pay the price if government can't pay its bills. Our Social Security and Medicare benefits are at risk. Interest rates would spike for our credit cards, car loans, and mortgages. Our 401(k) retirement accounts would drop. And, gas and food prices would skyrocket."Enough is enough. Call Congressman Tom Latham at XXX XXX XXXX and tell him not to gamble our future to protect tax breaks for Big Oil and billionaires."