Port: The worst thing Biden could do to Republicans is give them precisely what they want
MINOT, N.D. — With North Dakota’s discreditable legislative session having wheezed and gasped itself to a close, with Gov. Doug Burgum acting on the last of the bills sent to his desk last week, your humble correspondent has turned his eyes back to national politics, where there is yet another standoff over our national debt, with all the attendant theatrics.
A new wrinkle to the brinksmanship this time around is President Joe Biden’s insistence that he won’t negotiate with congressional Republicans over raising the debt limit. Which is absurd, and an illustration of how poor a leader Biden really is.
Is there anyone in the history of politics who has benefited more from simply not being as bad as the alternative as Joe Biden? Not being Donald Trump is not a high bar to get over, but I digress.
The Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse. Joe Biden is obliged to execute the laws passed by Congress, including those pertaining to taxation and spending. He can claim he’s not going to negotiate with Congress, but he will eventually have to negotiate with Congress because that’s how our republic is set up.
Though, it’s understandable why he doesn’t want to. He argues that congressional Republicans are unserious, and he’s not wrong. Any caucus that features a thundering dolt like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as a prominent member, that has a leader in Speaker Kevin McCarthy who cannot find the moral gumption to call on the recently arrested charlatan Rep. George Santos to resign, cannot be said to be serious about governing.
