A platinum way to blow Republicans' minds

By Michael J.W. Stickings

The Hill:

The White House on Wednesday declined to rule out minting a "platinum coin" to avoid default if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling.

Press secretary Jay Carney on Wednesday said there is "no substitute" for Congress raising the borrowing limit but declined to explicitly rule out issuing new currency to pay the government's debts.

"The option here is for Congress to do its job and pay the bill," Carney said. "There is no Plan B, there is no backup plan. There is Congress's responsibility."

It is, but it's not really up to Congress, it's up to the Republicans, who have decided to hold the economy hostage over the debt ceiling, something neither party did until this band of right-wing terrorists took over the House and decided to use the filibuster to pursue its obstructionist anti-Obama agenda in the Senate.

So, there may not be a Plan B, but... it's possible, right?

And while it seems like a crazy idea, minting a $1 trillion coin... you know what, I'm all for it. With Republicans prepared to risk economic disaster, bluffing or not, Dems have to get a bit creative, and aggressive, and that means the White House keeping all options on the table.

And it's doable. As Jon Chait writes:

There turns out to be no serious economic or legal argument against the platinum coins. (It may run against the intent of the law, which was to facilitate sales to coin buffs. But, then, using the debt ceiling to threaten the full faith of the U.S. Treasury also runs counter to the spirit of the law.) The main drawback is that it's hilarious. Though I say that if you can save the world economy and provide The Daily Show with weeks' worth of write-your-own-punch-lines, that's win-win.

Besides, when you're dealing with terrorists, you gotta do what you gotta do, right? Isn't that what the jingoistic bloodthirsty Republicans always tell us?

So come on. Mint the coin. Put Reagan on it.

Or, better yet, the occasionally progressive Nixon to commemorate the 100th year of his birth.

Or break tradition and put a living person on it. Maybe Clinton, as payback for all his work on Obama's re-election campaign last year. No, wait... Jimmy Carter! How awesome would that be?

(And make sure to invite Krugman to the unveiling.)

Mint the coin. Blow their fucking minds.