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The Wednesday Outlook

What's so weird about the mainstream coverage of the debt ceiling is that the mainstream are ignoring the alleged reason Republicans are using it to

What's so weird about the mainstream coverage of the debt ceiling is that the mainstream are ignoring the alleged reason Republicans are using it to force spending cuts: Jobs. To hear the GOP tell it, the whole debt-ceiling fight is about jobs. As one of the producers here pointed out during one of our editorial conference calls, the last GOP prescription for job growth--extending the Bush tax cuts--hasn't moved the needle a bit. So why should we trust their prescription for cutting spending?

As Media Matters points out, we shouldn't. The economists Speaker Boehner has lined up to endorse his job-creation theories have sketchy predictive records themselves. Of course, this isn't about jobs. If you're reading this blog, it should come as no surprise to you, but John Nichols explains this whole battle is really a rear-flank attack on the basic social safety net that made it possible for the last several generations of Americans to pursue the American dream free of fear.

Where's big business on all of this? Are they fueling the GOP here? Or is it more complicated than that? My thoughts later on, in today's Underbuzzed. Check on back for it soon...