The near-collapse of the global economic system just happened. Wall Street isn’t exactly popular with the American mainstream, but Congressional Republicans don’t care, pursuing a strategy that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. They’re counting on the public not knowing the difference, and the GOP is paying no price whatsoever for their financial industry antics.

The debt ceiling is not the only easily preventable crisis area in which the United States fails to act, due entirely to Republican intransigence and foolishness. We face a climate crisis, and extreme volatility in the energy sector, but the GOP refuses to consider sensible solutions even they supported a few years ago. If we don’t raise the debt ceiling, we risk a crisis of Congress’ own making. All because our political process has placed enormous power in the hands of incompetent ideologues who prefer inaction to action, and crisis to stability, even when the threat is staring us in the face.