For nearly a month Dems have been offering virtually every spending cut the GOP demanded, and every time Republicans walk away, because they won't accept tax increases. So we'll (probably) get a temporary $2 trillion bandaid and stay on the brink of bankruptcy until we do this again next year, instead of a $4 trillion deficit reduction deal that would actually make a long term difference. Their whole motive here is supposedly deficit reduction, but we'll get HALF the deficit reduction we could because they won't raise taxes that are ALREADY lower than they've been since the '50s. Again, the debt ceiling that's so unreasonable now was irrelevant six months ago when they were just as insistent about keeping the decade old Bush tax cuts. Low taxes trump the deficit, even though it's about to bankrupt the country. And to top it all off, the Senate Minority Leader wants to surrender Congress' power of the purse (enshrined in the Constitution) just to say it's all Obamas fault.

That's incredily selfish; the only question is whether it's stupidity or cowardice (hence the title). Republican leaders (with notable exceptions admit declaring the US bankrupt is unthinkable, so in their case it sounds like cowardice, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. Junior GOP Congressmen, however, may just actually be that stupid. Again, I'm not the only one who thinks so; David Brooks is a mainstay of Republican fiscal conservatism and calls deals Republicans keep reflexively dismissing "the mother of all no-brainers", says continued inflexibility would show "Republicans are not fit to govern". That's like Perrin saying Rand's handling of the Seals proves he's too stark raving mad to lead the Last Battle. And make no mistake, America declaring bankruptcy would be a financial Armageddon, but I guess it's worth that to avoid raising taxes to 1960 levels?

The BEST I can honestly do is accurately call them selfish without speculating on the cause.