- The House Republicans released a ultimatum of all the things they'd need before even thinking about raising the debt-ceiling. It was a beautiful exercise in wishful thinking.
- As Jonathan Chait notes, "It is, uh, rather extensive, and really needs to be read in full to appreciate its megalomaniacal ambition," but the Cliff Notes version: delay Obamacare implementation for a year, approve Keystone XL, obliterate Dodd-Frank, cut spending here and there and everywhere, etc. Please.
- The White House's response was basically, "LOL."
- And this was the list of demands they painstakingly whittled down to the essential and acheivable! We can only imagine what the first draft of their wish list demanded...
- Like, more history on the History Channel, perhaps.
- Replace the House Budget Committee office with a P90X workout room.
- Update Earth Day to include celebratory "environmental acupuncture" events.
- Give Thomas Friedman's seat at The New York Times opinion section roundtable to Chuck Norris.
- Make Jenny McCarthy Surgeon General.
- Give the New York Post permanent White House pool duty.
- Put what remains of the National Institute of Health's funding into time travel and space research.Bring Ronald Reagan to the future, and elect him moon president.
- Issue executive order to change expression "as American as apple pie" to "as American as Chick-fil-A"
- Make Tim Tebow the new face of Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign.
Daily Meme: The First Draft of the GOP's Debt-Ceiling Wish List
The American Prospect is fiercely independent and reader-funded. Your support directly funds our team of investigative reporters, fact-checkers, and editors who produce in-depth journalism that holds the powerful accountable.
If you believe in reporting that informs, challenges, and inspires, there are two key ways to support us:
• Donate to keep our nonprofit newsroom strong and fearless
• Subscribe to our award-winning print magazine and receive our hard-hitting reporting and analysis in your mailbox 6 times a year
Your support makes our journalism possible. Thank you for standing with us.