October 10, 2013

Republicans Still in Total Disarray Over Debt Ceiling Increase

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Jonathan Strong says I should read Tim Alberta’s latest piece in National Journal, so I did. And I’m mystified:

In interviews with numerous GOP lawmakers, members spoke with confidence — and acceptance — of the fact that the House will soon approve a short-term deal to raise the debt-ceiling and force Democrats to the negotiating table. Details are still being ironed out, House Republicans said, but they are on track to approve a debt-limit extension — lasting between four and six weeks — that would establish a framework for subsequent fiscal negotiations.

….The particulars of this short-term proposal are in flux, as there are ongoing discussions within the conference regarding which provisions — if any — should be attached. Some members are pushing for commensurate spending cuts, though such a figure could be difficult to calculate. Others are advocating the inclusion of one, or multiple, mini-funding bills that have been passed through the House. A clutch of conservatives, meanwhile, are asking for language that would prioritize Treasury payments.

Am I missing something? The one thing President Obama has said he won’t do is negotiate over a debt ceiling increase. So what do these guys do? Propose a 4-week debt ceiling increase with a bunch of conditions attached.

If I’m reading Alberta’s piece correctly, Republicans seem to think that a debt ceiling increase with conditions attached would be OK with Obama because it’s not actually a negotiation. They’re just telling him what he has to do. So, you know, he could sign it and then start negotiating. Or something.

Either (a) Alberta is reporting this wrong, (b) I’m reading it wrong, or (c) Republicans are even more divorced from reality than I thought. Take your pick.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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