GOP Death Wish and the US Credit Downgrade

On this Monday broadcast, Kim Monson honors Medal of Honor recipient Joe P. Martinez on the 80th anniversary of his death at Attu Island, then examines Republican Party dysfunction with American Thinker columnist Brian Joondeph and breaks down the Fitch credit rating downgrade with finance professor Kurt Gerwitz.

The Republican Party’s Self-Inflicted Wounds

Start listening at 30:32 – Hour 1

Brian Joondeph diagnoses what he calls the GOP’s “death wish,” arguing that Republicans have become largely irrelevant as a political opposition. Writing for American Thinker, Joondeph contends that the party establishment never embraced Donald Trump and continues to undermine him because he challenges the administrative state they serve.

Joondeph points to the selective prosecution of political opponents as a hallmark of totalitarianism now appearing in America. He notes that the weaponization of the FBI and DOJ against Trump, while Republicans like Ken Buck praise FBI Director Christopher Wray, demonstrates the party’s fundamental failure to defend constitutional principles. The lack of transparency around the 2020 election, combined with media suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story, reveals a system where government agencies collaborate with social media companies to manipulate public opinion.

Looking ahead to 2024, Joondeph floats an unconventional possibility: a Trump-RFK Jr. unity ticket that could peel off disaffected voters from both parties. He argues this may be the one moment when a third-party approach could actually succeed against the entrenched two-party system.

“Who arrests their political opponent? That’s third world banana republic type stuff, and here we’re seeing it in the U.S., sending the Justice Department after your political opponent on nonsensical charges.”

Brian Joondeph, American Thinker Columnist

Fitch Downgrades America’s Creditworthiness

Start listening at 59:54 – Hour 2

Kurt Gerwitz breaks down the significance of Fitch’s decision to downgrade the United States from AAA to AA+, matching S&P Global’s 2011 downgrade. With two of the three major credit rating agencies now questioning American creditworthiness, the implications for government borrowing costs and global confidence in the dollar become increasingly serious.

Gerwitz explains that Fitch cited three primary concerns: erosion of governance, high and growing debt burden, and expected fiscal deterioration. The embarrassing political fights over the debt ceiling, he notes, signal to international observers that American institutions may no longer function with the stability that once made Treasury bonds the global gold standard. The professor draws parallels to lending money to a family member whose domestic disputes make you question whether you will ever be repaid.

Despite concerns about BRICS nations potentially trading in their own currencies, Gerwitz argues that the US dollar remains dominant because no viable alternative exists. The euro, Chinese yuan, and cryptocurrencies all lack the scale, trust, or institutional backing to replace the approximately $50 trillion needed to run the global economy. China’s currency manipulation and lack of rule of law make it particularly unsuitable as a reserve currency.

“We got downgraded because we are now spending more on interest than we are in defense.”

Kurt Gerwitz, Finance Professor