Essay: The Republican Threat to Debt Ceiling Could Damage Popular Government Programs

With House Republicans threatening to withhold authorization to increase the debt ceiling, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen scrambles to fend off default on the nation's financial obligations. Former Salisbury University political science professor Michael O'Loughlin writes this far right tactic which was used during the Tea Party era could mean serious spending cuts to popular programs ranging from Medicaid to food safety inspections.