The suddenly populist Charlie Copeland pretends he is against corporate welfare now.
First Read: “It’s pretty obvious to say that Rick Perry has to feel good after last night’s GOP presidential debate here. And it’s obvious that Mitt Romney emerged unscathed. But our biggest takeaway from the debate: It wasn’t a good night for the entire Republican Party, especially since it was such an opportunity for the party as this debate took place in the midst of what happens to be President Obama’s worst week in the White House. Team Obama could not have asked for a better visual than every single GOP candidate raising their hand saying they’d refuse to support a debt deal that had a 10-to-1 ratio of spending cuts to tax increases. What’s more, the highlights of the debate were about them attacking each other than criticizing the president. We have now officially moved from the stage of the GOP presidential cycle where they’re attacking Obama, to the stage where they’re attacking each other. And this is one of the reasons why defeating a sitting president — who isn’t facing a primary challenge — isn’t easy, even in an economy like this one.”
And in case there was any doubt: “A Standard & Poor’s director said for the first time Thursday that one reason the United States lost its triple-A credit rating was that several lawmakers expressed skepticism about the serious consequences of a credit default — a position put forth by some Republicans.”
Without specifically mentioning Republicans, S&P senior director Joydeep Mukherji said the stability and effectiveness of American political institutions were undermined by the fact that “people in the political arena were even talking about a potential default,” Mukherji said.
“That a country even has such voices, albeit a minority, is something notable,” he added. “This kind of rhetoric is not common amongst AAA sovereigns.”
Indeed. All the GOP candidates did so again last night.