Thread by @WeTheBrandon

1/ This fight over @GOPLeader isn't really about McCarthy (though for some of the 20 it is). What this is about is the pending #debt ceiling fight likely in February. Here's what's going on (a thread)...

@GOPLeader 2/ 'Twas the night before Xmas (not exactly but close enough) & all thru the night, lobbyists were skulking the decorated hall of Congress, looking for handouts for their special interests. Everyone on Capitol Hill wanted to go home for the holidays so, w/o much debate,

@GOPLeader 3/ A group of elected officials pushed through a $1.7 Trillion spending bill w/o debate or even so much of a "Dear Colleague" letter. It was imperious. What upset some on the Hill the most was that the spending bill was chock full of goodies for Left-wing special interests.

@GOPLeader 4/ Having already had their arses handed to them in an unlikely electoral defeat in November, elements of the @GOP were concerned that the leadership of both parties in the Senate and House were just going to push through whatever @POTUS wanted.

@GOPLeader @GOP @POTUS 5/ Since the #Republicans had a SLIM majority in the #HouseofRepresentatives a group of 19/20 elected Republicans decided to make a stand against the status quo. They feared #KevinMcCarthy was going to sell them out just as #MitchMcConnell had done since #Biden took office.

@GOPLeader @GOP @POTUS 6/ Personally, I understand where the #FreedomCaucus who opposed #McCarthy were coming from. And, again, this is NOT about McCarthy per se. It is instead about the pending fight over the #debt ceiling, which these 20 #GOP leaders believe McCarthy & McConnell will bend on.

@GOPLeader @GOP @POTUS 7/ Here's the thing: these 20 Republicans don't have the votes to get someone they like as #Speakerofthehouse All they can do is jam up the government. And that may make some ppl feel good, but it's just setting up the #GOP for failure. Fact is, @GOPLeader has gotten 200+ votes.

@GOPLeader @GOP @POTUS 8/ The 6 times the #Speakerofthehousevote was held over the last 3 days, the #FreedomCaucus has not gotten more than 20 votes for whoever it was they were pushing as an alternative to #KevinMcCarthy After 6 votes (and counting) in 3 days, if you're not making headway, quit.

@GOPLeader @GOP @POTUS 9/ On Sunday according to the @nypost @GOPLeader had already conceded to several of the #FreedomCaucus demands (including having a 5-vote threshold for removing #McCarthy as #Speaker at any time) McCarthy had also promised key members of the Freedom Caucus a better seat at table.

@GOPLeader @GOP @POTUS @nypost 10/ Yet, the #FreedomCaucus continues being intransigent. At least 5 (including @mattgaetz) have formed the unofficial "Never #KEVIN" coalition. Again, this movement is going nowhere. BUT this is about a breakdown in trust in direct relation to the way the spending bill occured

@GOPLeader @GOP @POTUS @nypost @mattgaetz 11/ AND this is an understandable fear about how the debt ceiling fight will go. These #FreedomCaucus members were likely to be the vanguard of opposition to raising the debt ceiling again. BUT by making the McCarthy vote their hill to die on, they've squandered political capital

@GOPLeader @GOP @POTUS @nypost @mattgaetz 12/ NOW, holding the debt ceiling fight is akin to the #Alamo. BUT at least it's a principle and the fight MAY trigger a wider national debate on our government's profligate spending. As I said yesterday, holding the Speaker vote up is Custer @ Little Big Horn.

@GOPLeader @GOP @POTUS @nypost @mattgaetz 13/ Everyone dies in both the Alamo and Little Big Horn example BUT the former inspires a great movement; a shift in thinking that eventuates in a total victory that those who died at the Alamo fought for initially. Whereas Little Big Horn, everyone dies & the world forgets.

@GOPLeader @GOP @POTUS @nypost @mattgaetz 14/ (Personally, though, I prefer the plan where no one dies). Which leads me now to the debt ceiling, which is of course, the real issue that the #FreedomCaucus is having with #McCarthy and their fear that he will behave in the House as @LeaderMcConnell behaves in the #Senate.

@GOPLeader @GOP @POTUS @nypost @mattgaetz @LeaderMcConnell 15/ MOST people agree that government spends WAY too much. However, NO ONE agrees on what should be the right amount of money it spends & what programs should be cut. This isn't just a #Republican vs. #Democratic thing, this is within the parties as well.

@GOPLeader @GOP @POTUS @nypost @mattgaetz @LeaderMcConnell 16/ Here's our national debt as of one minute ago:

17/ We take in about $4.6 trillion in tax revenue per year. Not enough $$ (and who wants a tax raise to pay down this debt??) So, government can print money as well to help defray the nat'l debt. Welp, we've been printing money like Weimar Germany. It's still not helping.

18/ Next, US Treasury can & does issue US bonds and sells them on the world market. The bondholders then lend the US Gov money to be paid back w/ interest. OK that's the nat'l debt.

19/ SO Congress imposes a debt limit, or ceiling, which is what sounds like: a limit to how much $ US gov can borrow. It's something that helps us look like we're responsible (LOL! JUST LOOK AT THAT DEBT, WE AREN'T!) & it helps us with int'l rating agencies.

20/ Speaking of which, the last time Standards & Poor (S&P) Credit Rating Agency downgraded USA long-term sovereign credit from the vaunted AAA rating to AA+ rating, the US market took quite a hit--which contributed overall to the decline in economic output in 2011.

21/ ALSO, those US treasury bond sales are not just to investors, they are to other parts of the US gov. The Fed buys bonds when it wants to increase $$ supply. The Social Security Administration holds almost $3 billion in US treasurys which is financed w/ surplus revenue.