Phil Gingrey (l) and Paul Broun (r) both support federal default. (Photo: house.gov)

Phil Gingrey (l) and Paul Broun (r) both support federal default. (Photo: house.gov)

At a town hall event last week in Georgia, Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) had a particularly absurd ransom to demand for raising the debt limit. In an exchange recorded by True South Radio and uploaded on YouTube, Broun said that he wouldn’t vote to hike the ceiling without major cuts. When asked what those cuts would be, Broun said he wants to see the Departments of Education and Energy abolished.

ThinkProgress captures yet another hostage-taking, pro-default Republican congressman:

As I've been arguing, I think the right response to Paul Broun and his fellow Republicans is to dare them to follow through on their threats. I think they are bluffing, but if it turns out they aren't, then they are so hell-bent on throwing the American government into crisis that nothing is going to stop them anyway. For appearances sake, it might make sense to remain at the negotiating table, but Democrats shouldn't budge an inch on anything of any significant importance. Raising the debt ceiling is a Republican problem and Republicans need to get their act together or get out of the way.