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        <title>UNCONTROLLABLE FLYING OBJECT</title>
        <link>https://redcircle.com/shows/uncontrollable-flying-object</link>
        <language>en-US</language>
        <copyright>All rights reserved.</copyright>
        <itunes:author>MedsDental</itunes:author>
        <itunes:summary>*THE LE STYLO CASE HADN’T* just taken a twist, it had taken a dive and a lift-off as well. Normally my mind would be racing to put the pieces together, but we had big- ger things to worry about than whether Cyril was Le Stylo or who knew enough to follow him with a drone. Nine hundred eighty-four feet bigger! The flying car soared higher and the Eiffel Tower loomed closer, its impossibly tall steel legs rising into a sky-high spear of death ready to pulverize us if Joe didn’t figure out how to steer this thing quick.MedsDental is a renowned *Dental Billing Company* ( https://medsdental.com/ ) in the united states, equipped of the revenue cycle experts who are highly proficient in delivering fast and the error-free billing services to the dental practices by using the cutting edge technology.  I’d wanted to see the Eiffel Tower while we were in Paris, but . . . “This wasn’t the kind of sightseeing I had in mind!” I screamed. “Do some- thing!” “I’m trying!” Joe screamed back, yanking hard on the wheel and working the pedals like mad. We were so close I could see the pins holding the beams together. And then the weld marks. And then . . . we were out of time. The buggy was moving too fast. I shut my eyes, unable to watch the moment of our— “Yes!” Joe shouted.

I felt the car jerk hard to the left and opened my eyes in time to see the tower’s steel beams whoosh past close enough to touch. “Way to go, Joe!” I cheered as the buggy zipped around the Eiffel Tower with Joe now firmly in control. “Dude, did you ever doubt me?” he asked. “Yes,” I said, barely able to hear my voice over my own thumping heart. “Abso- lutely.” “Me too,” he said with a grin. “But now that I have the hang of it, this is amaz- ing!” I looked down. The view was beyond amazing. All of Paris spread out below us in a sea of lights. You could see everything at once. The Seine aglow in the reflec- tion of the streetlamps as it snaked through the city. The Louvre pyramid and all the other famous landmarks shining with light. There was one thing we couldn’t see, though. “There’s no way we’re finding Cyril or that drone now,” I said. “Well, we definitely learned one thing tonight . . . ,” Joe began. “Don’t drive a flying car into one of the most famous landmarks in the world?” I asked. “That too,” he agreed. “But with his flying Batmobile buggy and secret alter ego, Cyril is practically a French Bruce Wayne.” “Either he’s Le Stylo, or he’s going to an insane amount of trouble to defend whoever is,” I asserted. “Either way, I’m starting to think what Cyril insinuated at the gallery could be true,” Joe shared. “Maybe Le Stylo didn’t pull the Mona Lisa stunt and the Napoléon pen heist after all.” “Do you think it’s whoever was piloting that drone?” I asked. “It sure didn’t seem like Cyril knew it was following him.” “Whoever was behind that drone knew enough about Cyril’s secrets to spy on the houseboat and wait for the submersible to launch,” Joe went on, keeping the theory cranking. “Which means if Cyril really is Le Stylo, then the spy also knows enough about his methods to convincingly make the Louvre hoax look like Le Sty- lo’s handiwork.” “And frame him like a painting,” I added. I looked back down at Paris glowing beneath us. Our villain was down there somewhere. “Any chance that Cyril is Le Stylo and did do it?” I theorized. “He could have given away all those paintings as a publicity stunt to save his image and still get away with it.” “But why?” Joe wanted to know. “What would he have to gain by stealing Plouf- fe’s pen? We know he doesn’t need the money, not when he turned right around and gave away over a million dollars’ worth of his own paintings the next day.” “Speaking of Plouffe, if Simone Lachance is right about him profiting off the

theft through his insurance policy, then that gives him a motive too,” I said, trying on a new theory. “If he stole the pen from himself, he’d make back more than he spent to buy it and also get to keep it for free.” “He really did seem distraught, though. He’d have to be a really good actor,” Joe pointed out. “And he couldn’t have stolen it by himself, because he was with us when the thief took the safe. So he’d have to have an accomplice.” “If he did, we can be pretty certain it wasn’t Simone. If she was his partner, she wouldn’t have drawn attention to him by talking about his insurance policy,” I said, chipping away at the proposition of a Plouffe conspiracy. “He also didn’t know any- one was listening when we overheard him on the phone asking for her help finding it. He wouldn’t have been crying about his stolen treasure to the person who helped him steal it.” “What about Ginormo Luc?” Joe shuddered. “As much as I dislike the guy, what’s his motive?” I asked. “Even if he had one, he’s got to be three hundred pounds at least. Whoever scaled the pyramid in that mirrored suit would have to have weighed a lot less.” “Yeah, and the police definitely would have noticed him on the security cameras if he visited the Mona Lisa when the projector was planted,” Joe agreed. “Maybe Devereux had something to do with it.” Managing the billing process accurately is not easy as providers might face hurdles in revenue cycle management. Moreover, Net Collection Rate below 95% shows that your practice is facing troubles in the billing process. To eliminate all these hurdles and maintain your NCR up to 96%, *MedsIT Nexus* Medical Coding Services ( https://medsitnexus.com/services/medical-billing-and-coding-services/ ) are around the corner for you so that your practice does not have to face a loss.I tossed out the name of our other least favorite person in France. “I don’t like to think about the implications of a police officer betraying his oath like that, but he has a motive. Chief Olaf said he’s been after Le Stylo for years. Showing up the police is Le Stylo’s specialty, and Devereux hates getting shown up.” “But if he was the one behind the drone, that would mean he already knew enough about Cyril to bust him. Why go to all this other trouble?” Joe wondered. “Unless he knew because he’d been spying illegally and needed legally admis- sible evidence to nail Cyril without nailing himself as a crooked cop in the process,” I suggested. “Hmm. I don’t know, bro, seems a little thin,” Joe said, steering the Sky Ranger back to Cyril’s houseboat. I sighed. We were running out of suspects and I was grasping at straws. “Do we know anything about that redheaded guy with the camera we saw argu- ing with Simone at Cyril’s party?” I asked. “They both had bones to pick with Le Stylo. I wonder what bones they had with each other. And all three of them seem to know one another.” “Yeah, but Cyril is a huge collector. He and Simone probably know a ton of the same art-world people,” Joe said, casting doubt on another of my theories. “We’d need to know more about him to see if there was a connection worth exploring. And all those other artists we heard talking around the Georges St. Denis exhibit seemed pretty sour about Le Stylo’s success too.”</itunes:summary>
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        <description><![CDATA[<p><strong>THE LE STYLO CASE HADN’T </strong>just taken a twist, it had taken a dive and a lift-off as well. Normally my mind would be racing to put the pieces together, but we had big- ger things to worry about than whether Cyril was Le Stylo or who knew enough to follow him with a drone. Nine hundred eighty-four feet bigger! The flying car soared higher and the Eiffel Tower loomed closer, its impossibly tall steel legs rising into a sky-high spear of death ready to pulverize us if Joe didn’t figure out how to steer this thing quick.MedsDental is a renowned <a href="https://medsdental.com/" rel="nofollow"><strong>Dental Billing Company</strong></a> in the united states, equipped of the revenue cycle experts who are highly proficient in delivering fast and the error-free billing services to the dental practices by using the cutting edge technology.  I’d wanted to see the Eiffel Tower while we were in Paris, but . . . “This wasn’t the kind of sightseeing I had in mind!” I screamed. “Do some- thing!” “I’m trying!” Joe screamed back, yanking hard on the wheel and working the pedals like mad. We were so close I could see the pins holding the beams together. And then the weld marks. And then . . . we were out of time. The buggy was moving too fast. I shut my eyes, unable to watch the moment of our— “Yes!” Joe shouted. </p><p>I felt the car jerk hard to the left and opened my eyes in time to see the tower’s steel beams whoosh past close enough to touch. “Way to go, Joe!” I cheered as the buggy zipped around the Eiffel Tower with Joe now firmly in control. “Dude, did you ever doubt me?” he asked. “Yes,” I said, barely able to hear my voice over my own thumping heart. “Abso- lutely.” “Me too,” he said with a grin. “But now that I have the hang of it, this is amaz- ing!” I looked down. The view was beyond amazing. All of Paris spread out below us in a sea of lights. You could see everything at once. The Seine aglow in the reflec- tion of the streetlamps as it snaked through the city. The Louvre pyramid and all the other famous landmarks shining with light. There was one thing we couldn’t see, though. “There’s no way we’re finding Cyril or that drone now,” I said. “Well, we definitely learned one thing tonight . . . ,” Joe began. “Don’t drive a flying car into one of the most famous landmarks in the world?” I asked. “That too,” he agreed. “But with his flying Batmobile buggy and secret alter ego, Cyril is practically a French Bruce Wayne.” “Either he’s Le Stylo, or he’s going to an insane amount of trouble to defend whoever is,” I asserted. “Either way, I’m starting to think what Cyril insinuated at the gallery could be true,” Joe shared. “Maybe Le Stylo didn’t pull the <em>Mona Lisa </em>stunt and the Napoléon pen heist after all.” “Do you think it’s whoever was piloting that drone?” I asked. “It sure didn’t seem like Cyril knew it was following him.” “Whoever was behind that drone knew enough about Cyril’s secrets to spy on the houseboat and wait for the submersible to launch,” Joe went on, keeping the theory cranking. “Which means if Cyril really is Le Stylo, then the spy also knows enough about his methods to convincingly make the Louvre hoax look like Le Sty- lo’s handiwork.” “And frame him like a painting,” I added. I looked back down at Paris glowing beneath us. Our villain was down there somewhere. “Any chance that Cyril is Le Stylo and <em>did </em>do it?” I theorized. “He could have given away all those paintings as a publicity stunt to save his image and still get away with it.” “But why?” Joe wanted to know. “What would he have to gain by stealing Plouf- fe’s pen? We know he doesn’t need the money, not when he turned right around and gave away over a million dollars’ worth of his own paintings the next day.” “Speaking of Plouffe, if Simone Lachance is right about him profiting off the </p><p>theft through his insurance policy, then that gives him a motive too,” I said, trying on a new theory. “If he stole the pen from himself, he’d make back more than he spent to buy it and also get to keep it for free.” “He really did seem distraught, though. He’d have to be a really good actor,” Joe pointed out. “And he couldn’t have stolen it by himself, because he was with us when the thief took the safe. So he’d have to have an accomplice.” “If he did, we can be pretty certain it wasn’t Simone. If she was his partner, she wouldn’t have drawn attention to him by talking about his insurance policy,” I said, chipping away at the proposition of a Plouffe conspiracy. “He also didn’t know any- one was listening when we overheard him on the phone asking for her help finding it. He wouldn’t have been crying about his stolen treasure to the person who helped him steal it.” “What about Ginormo Luc?” Joe shuddered. “As much as I dislike the guy, what’s his motive?” I asked. “Even if he had one, he’s got to be three hundred pounds at least. Whoever scaled the pyramid in that mirrored suit would have to have weighed a lot less.” “Yeah, and the police definitely would have noticed him on the security cameras if he visited the <em>Mona Lisa </em>when the projector was planted,” Joe agreed. “Maybe Devereux had something to do with it.” Managing the billing process accurately is not easy as providers might face hurdles in revenue cycle management. Moreover, Net Collection Rate below 95% shows that your practice is facing troubles in the billing process. To eliminate all these hurdles and maintain your NCR up to 96%, <strong>MedsIT Nexus</strong> <a href="https://medsitnexus.com/services/medical-billing-and-coding-services/" rel="nofollow">Medical Coding Services</a> are around the corner for you so that your practice does not have to face a loss.I tossed out the name of our other least favorite person in France. “I don’t like to think about the implications of a police officer betraying his oath like that, but he has a motive. Chief Olaf said he’s been after Le Stylo for years. Showing up the police is Le Stylo’s specialty, and Devereux hates getting shown up.” “But if he was the one behind the drone, that would mean he already knew enough about Cyril to bust him. Why go to all this other trouble?” Joe wondered. “Unless he knew because he’d been spying illegally and needed legally admis- sible evidence to nail Cyril without nailing himself as a crooked cop in the process,” I suggested. “Hmm. I don’t know, bro, seems a little thin,” Joe said, steering the Sky Ranger back to Cyril’s houseboat. I sighed. We were running out of suspects and I was grasping at straws. “Do we know anything about that redheaded guy with the camera we saw argu- ing with Simone at Cyril’s party?” I asked. “They both had bones to pick with Le Stylo. I wonder what bones they had with each other. And all three of them seem to know one another.” “Yeah, but Cyril is a huge collector. He and Simone probably know a ton of the same art-world people,” Joe said, casting doubt on another of my theories. “We’d need to know more about him to see if there was a connection worth exploring. And all those other artists we heard talking around the Georges St. Denis exhibit seemed pretty sour about Le Stylo’s success too.”</p>]]></description>
        
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        <itunes:owner>
            <itunes:name>MedsDental</itunes:name>
            <itunes:email>liamjonh225@gmail.com</itunes:email>
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                <itunes:title>What Will the GOP Do if It Wins?</itunes:title>
                <title>What Will the GOP Do if It Wins?</title>

                
                
                <itunes:author>MedsDental</itunes:author>
                
                <description><![CDATA[<p>The United States was on the verge of default in 2011 thanks to the radical Tea Party rightist leadership of Jason Chaffetz and the new House Republican majority, which was encouraged by Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy. A last-minute agreement reached by President Barack Obama, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Speaker John Boehner prevented the catastrophe. A violation of the debt ceiling, which would have resulted in the loss of the US&#39;s full faith and credit, would have been disastrous. But Chaffetz was more than happy to make it happen, as did many of his fellow lawmakers. After the incident, Chaffetz declared, &#34;We weren&#39;t joking around. We would have removed it.</p><p>The brinkmanship and delays already had negative consequences. In the months that followed, the Dow lost 2,000 points, and the federal government&#39;s borrowing costs rose by an estimated $18.9 billion over a ten-year period, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.</p><p>Chaffetz has long since left the House, but the Tea Party radicals—who a few years later founded the Freedom Caucus because the Republican Study Committee, the pre-existing right-wing caucus, was not right-wing enough—have moved from the edge to the core of House Republicans. Additionally, Republicans will make the Tea Party movement look like bland moderates if they win a majority in next month&#39;s midterm elections. There will be a significant chance of default, as well as protracted interruptions and shutdowns of the government and a constrained administration.</p><p><br></p><p>The upcoming election will be the most important of our lifetimes, if there is one tired cliche about elections. This time, there is cause to think it is true. Although the results are still up in the air, one thing is certain: If Republicans take over the House of Representatives, the nation will face a number of fundamental difficulties that are far more severe than any that we have faced in any recent period of partisan gridlock, including a real and present danger of default and a government shutdown. The Republican majority, led by McCarthy, will be either obedient or powerless to avert disaster. It will be more extreme, irresponsible, and eager to use nuclear alternatives to achieve its goals than any of its predecessors have been.</p><p><br></p><p>Bad losers, from the November 2022 issue</p><p><br></p><p>New Hampshire&#39;s primaries have highlighted this danger. Don Bolduc, who was denounced by Republican Governor Chris Sununu as a &#34;conspiracy-theory extreme,&#34; won the Republican nomination for the Senate, and Trump supporters Karoline Leavitt and Bob Burns carried the primaries for the two House seats. MAGA radicals were the main winners. These candidates fall outside of any reasonable definition of the mainstream because they openly acknowledge that Trump won in 2020 and advocate for abolishing the FBI. However, they are the norm, not the exception, in this year&#39;s Republican primary contests for nomination to important state and federal offices.</p><p><br></p><p>Republicans were confident about achieving a broad midterm victory, similar to what they did in 2010, earlier in the year. In recent months, especially in the wake of the Supreme Court&#39;s Dobbs decision, those high hopes have been dashed, and several of the extreme contenders now face difficult electoral challenges (for example, the Cook Political Report moved the New Hampshire Senate race and one of those two House races from toss-up to leaning Democrat after the victories of Bolduc and Leavitt.) However, upon redistricting, the chances of Republicans regaining control of the House are still rather good, if only by a small margin, considering the variety of seats that could switch parties.</p><p><br></p><p>In terms of the House, FiveThirtyEight has discovered that at least 117 House Republicans currently have at least a 95 percent probability of winning and are outright election sceptics or questioners, which is a good sign of radicalism and a readiness to reject reality in favour of fiction. In response, they are prepared, if not eager, to overthrow governments and institutions in order to achieve their objectives.</p><p><br></p><p>The current members of the Freedom Caucus represent a rogues&#39; gallery of bombastic pot-stirrers and insurrectionist enablers, including Scott Perry, Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Louie Gohmert, and Mo Brooks. They make up barely a fifth of all House Republicans. They will represent a larger portion of their party in the House in the 118th Congress. Their objectives include investigating Hunter Biden, Anthony Fauci, and others; impeaching Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, Alejandro Mayorkas, and others; crippling the FBI; stopping all future Biden policies; opposing an abortion ban across the country, the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, strict immigration laws, and other causes. Investigations, subpoenas, resolutions of contempt, and impeachment are just a few of the many things that one chamber of Congress can accomplish on its own. Of fact, neither the House nor the Senate are able to oust a government official from office. However, it can use its veto authority to demand reform and obstruct legislation. There is no doubt that any legislative move from the Biden administration will be blocked by the House Republicans. The ways they could use the power of the purse, however, would be worse.</p><p><br></p><p>The debt ceiling is where it all begins. Raising the debt ceiling is a dated policy requirement that is only employed by the US and Denmark; failing to do so when the ceiling is reached would result in a default. Congress must take periodic action to raise the debt ceiling in order to preserve the US&#39;s full faith and credit. Even while both parties have used the debt ceiling as a political football, they have always managed to pass it, even though we came perilously near during the Obama administration. &#34;I think some of our members may have thought the default issue was a hostage you may take a shot at shooting,&#34; McConnell remarked in 2011. The majority of us didn&#39;t believe that. We did discover that the prisoner is valuable enough to demand ransom for.</p><p><br></p><p>The debt ceiling threat was used by McConnell and Boehner in the House to secure some expenditure reductions. The new MAGA hardline extremists&#39; demands for concessions will not be negotiable. If Republicans prevail this time, there will be a lot more members prepared to push us over the edge, and Speaker McCarthy won&#39;t be able or willing to halt their onslaught. Of course, there could be more significant interruptions, such as expensive investigations and government shutdowns. However, the actual risk of default looms biggest. Now what? Something is obvious. If the Republicans win the election in November, the lame-duck session offers a chance to permanently end this menace. The ironically called &#34;McConnell Rule&#34; must be made permanent, maybe through reconciliation, in order to achieve this. The Senate Republican leader changed the rule ten years ago to permit the president to raise the debt ceiling. The law permits Congress to approve a joint resolution prohibiting the action, but it also contains a clause allowing the president to veto it. In this case, the president would only need the backing of one-third of Congress plus one of the two houses to avoid default.</p><p><br></p><p>We have entered a new, terrifying age in American politics and administration, one in which radicals seeking big disruption and a revolution will not only be a vociferous minority but may even control a governing body. We cannot take a chance on suffering the full effects of that harsh truth.</p><p><br></p><p>Emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute is Norm Ornstein.</p>]]></description>
                <content:encoded>&lt;p&gt;The United States was on the verge of default in 2011 thanks to the radical Tea Party rightist leadership of Jason Chaffetz and the new House Republican majority, which was encouraged by Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy. A last-minute agreement reached by President Barack Obama, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Speaker John Boehner prevented the catastrophe. A violation of the debt ceiling, which would have resulted in the loss of the US&amp;#39;s full faith and credit, would have been disastrous. But Chaffetz was more than happy to make it happen, as did many of his fellow lawmakers. After the incident, Chaffetz declared, &amp;#34;We weren&amp;#39;t joking around. We would have removed it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The brinkmanship and delays already had negative consequences. In the months that followed, the Dow lost 2,000 points, and the federal government&amp;#39;s borrowing costs rose by an estimated $18.9 billion over a ten-year period, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chaffetz has long since left the House, but the Tea Party radicals—who a few years later founded the Freedom Caucus because the Republican Study Committee, the pre-existing right-wing caucus, was not right-wing enough—have moved from the edge to the core of House Republicans. Additionally, Republicans will make the Tea Party movement look like bland moderates if they win a majority in next month&amp;#39;s midterm elections. There will be a significant chance of default, as well as protracted interruptions and shutdowns of the government and a constrained administration.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The upcoming election will be the most important of our lifetimes, if there is one tired cliche about elections. This time, there is cause to think it is true. Although the results are still up in the air, one thing is certain: If Republicans take over the House of Representatives, the nation will face a number of fundamental difficulties that are far more severe than any that we have faced in any recent period of partisan gridlock, including a real and present danger of default and a government shutdown. The Republican majority, led by McCarthy, will be either obedient or powerless to avert disaster. It will be more extreme, irresponsible, and eager to use nuclear alternatives to achieve its goals than any of its predecessors have been.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bad losers, from the November 2022 issue&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;New Hampshire&amp;#39;s primaries have highlighted this danger. Don Bolduc, who was denounced by Republican Governor Chris Sununu as a &amp;#34;conspiracy-theory extreme,&amp;#34; won the Republican nomination for the Senate, and Trump supporters Karoline Leavitt and Bob Burns carried the primaries for the two House seats. MAGA radicals were the main winners. These candidates fall outside of any reasonable definition of the mainstream because they openly acknowledge that Trump won in 2020 and advocate for abolishing the FBI. However, they are the norm, not the exception, in this year&amp;#39;s Republican primary contests for nomination to important state and federal offices.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Republicans were confident about achieving a broad midterm victory, similar to what they did in 2010, earlier in the year. In recent months, especially in the wake of the Supreme Court&amp;#39;s Dobbs decision, those high hopes have been dashed, and several of the extreme contenders now face difficult electoral challenges (for example, the Cook Political Report moved the New Hampshire Senate race and one of those two House races from toss-up to leaning Democrat after the victories of Bolduc and Leavitt.) However, upon redistricting, the chances of Republicans regaining control of the House are still rather good, if only by a small margin, considering the variety of seats that could switch parties.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In terms of the House, FiveThirtyEight has discovered that at least 117 House Republicans currently have at least a 95 percent probability of winning and are outright election sceptics or questioners, which is a good sign of radicalism and a readiness to reject reality in favour of fiction. In response, they are prepared, if not eager, to overthrow governments and institutions in order to achieve their objectives.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The current members of the Freedom Caucus represent a rogues&amp;#39; gallery of bombastic pot-stirrers and insurrectionist enablers, including Scott Perry, Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Louie Gohmert, and Mo Brooks. They make up barely a fifth of all House Republicans. They will represent a larger portion of their party in the House in the 118th Congress. Their objectives include investigating Hunter Biden, Anthony Fauci, and others; impeaching Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, Alejandro Mayorkas, and others; crippling the FBI; stopping all future Biden policies; opposing an abortion ban across the country, the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, strict immigration laws, and other causes. Investigations, subpoenas, resolutions of contempt, and impeachment are just a few of the many things that one chamber of Congress can accomplish on its own. Of fact, neither the House nor the Senate are able to oust a government official from office. However, it can use its veto authority to demand reform and obstruct legislation. There is no doubt that any legislative move from the Biden administration will be blocked by the House Republicans. The ways they could use the power of the purse, however, would be worse.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The debt ceiling is where it all begins. Raising the debt ceiling is a dated policy requirement that is only employed by the US and Denmark; failing to do so when the ceiling is reached would result in a default. Congress must take periodic action to raise the debt ceiling in order to preserve the US&amp;#39;s full faith and credit. Even while both parties have used the debt ceiling as a political football, they have always managed to pass it, even though we came perilously near during the Obama administration. &amp;#34;I think some of our members may have thought the default issue was a hostage you may take a shot at shooting,&amp;#34; McConnell remarked in 2011. The majority of us didn&amp;#39;t believe that. We did discover that the prisoner is valuable enough to demand ransom for.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The debt ceiling threat was used by McConnell and Boehner in the House to secure some expenditure reductions. The new MAGA hardline extremists&amp;#39; demands for concessions will not be negotiable. If Republicans prevail this time, there will be a lot more members prepared to push us over the edge, and Speaker McCarthy won&amp;#39;t be able or willing to halt their onslaught. Of course, there could be more significant interruptions, such as expensive investigations and government shutdowns. However, the actual risk of default looms biggest. Now what? Something is obvious. If the Republicans win the election in November, the lame-duck session offers a chance to permanently end this menace. The ironically called &amp;#34;McConnell Rule&amp;#34; must be made permanent, maybe through reconciliation, in order to achieve this. The Senate Republican leader changed the rule ten years ago to permit the president to raise the debt ceiling. The law permits Congress to approve a joint resolution prohibiting the action, but it also contains a clause allowing the president to veto it. In this case, the president would only need the backing of one-third of Congress plus one of the two houses to avoid default.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We have entered a new, terrifying age in American politics and administration, one in which radicals seeking big disruption and a revolution will not only be a vociferous minority but may even control a governing body. We cannot take a chance on suffering the full effects of that harsh truth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute is Norm Ornstein.&lt;/p&gt;</content:encoded>
                
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