Calmes: On the debt-ceiling crisis, take it from moderate Republicans: Be afraid, be very afraid

Key Facts

• A group of moderate Republicans and former Republicans in Washington who call themselves the Concerned — as in, for the state of their party and the country — are really concerned these days.
• That was Bill Hoagland, who for a quarter-century was a top budget advisor to Senate Republican leaders — from the Reagan era, through Newt Gingrich’s “revolution,” to the dawn of the tea party — and now is a senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
• They weren’t there in 2011, for example, when tea party Republicans caused a debt-limit crisis that resulted in the first downgrading of the U.S. credit rating and, consequently, billions of dollars in higher interest on the nation’s borrowing — interest payments that only added to the debt.
• The House Republicans want to see a cut of $130 billion in spending for the coming fiscal year (starting in October), and a balanced budget in 10 years.

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