Two different takes on the debt negotiation and its eventual resolution. Paul Krugman in today's NYT makes the case Republicans didn't really care whether the deficit is cut or not. Like the gang that couldn't shoot straight, they are mostly rando terrorists in it for the thrill of taking the US to the brink of default. They didn't have any policy goals because they don't care about policy.
Over at his blog, Jabberwocking, Kevin Drum has a diametrically opposed view. In his estimation, McCarthy's merry band of nihilists knew exactly what they were doing and succeeded in making the Biden administration cut the social safety net spending by 5-10 %.
As is usual in such cases, the truth is somewhere between Krugman's and Drum's telling. The GOP and its donor class hate the idea of any income transfer, no matter how benign. They cover their intentions with the usual blather about fraud and waste. Meanwhile, Biden and his negotiators made most of the cuts reversible within a couple of years. Both sides got something to crow about. Nothing much to see here.
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