The GOP’s Ransom Demand

Jonathan Chait looks at the Republican list of demands to raise the debt ceiling and concludes, “It’s Mitt Romney’s 2012 economic plan. Almost word for word, in fact.”

“The fact that a major party could even propose anything like this is a display of astonishing contempt for democratic norms. Republicans ran on this plan and lost by 5 million votes. They also lost the Senate and received a million fewer votes in the House but held control owing to favorable district lines. Is there an example in American history of a losing party issuing threats to force the majority party to implement its rejected agenda?”