Unspeakable Speakers

Unspeakable is a word to be used rarely, but it is the only way to describe what Republicans are doing to the American economy.

As House members fight to preserve tax cuts for the filthy rich and gut safety nets for the poor, John Boehner warns, “Without significant spending cuts and changes to the way we spend the American people’s money, there will be no debt limit increase. And cuts should be greater than the accompanying increase in debt authority the president is given.”

How did such blackmail based on a Big Lie gain traction in a time when the gap between the filthy rich and the rest of Americans has widened to record proportions?

A labor advocate points out that "in 1980, CEOs made about 42 times the pay of an average worker. And in 2010 it was 324 times...And it is as if the recession never happened...

"Executive Pay Watch showed that 299 of the S&P 500 CEOs made a collective $3.4 billion. And that could support 103,000 workers making average wages."

Still, the GOP party line is to hold a gun to the head of Congress in order to retain tax breaks that only widen this gap, increase the deficit and do nothing but exacerbate doubts that endanger U.S. credit in the world.

As this obscene melodrama goes on, Newt Gingrich enters the Republican 2012 lists, a reminder that his party is perfectly capable of shutting down the government to make a political point and to invite a new definition of "unspeakable" for his successor as Speaker of the House.

When language is degraded to this point, what's left to protect us?

Update: The President joins the debate head on, declaring that Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are part of the fundamental pact between the American government and its citizens.

“We would not be a great country without those commitments,” he says. Amen to that.