Playing Chicken with the Economy  Robert Brent Toplin,
University of North Carolina, Wilmington (retired), has
published a dozen books on topics related to history, politics,
and film. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.  Republicans
say they will not raise the debt ceiling if Democrats do not
accept their demands for huge spending cuts.  Will they go all
the way in this confrontation, even to the point of triggering
the first default in the U.S. government’s history?  Many
political observers think Republicans won’t carry out the
threat, because default would bring economic calamity.  But
Republicans have played the dangerous game of fiscal
brinksmanship before.  In some instances they actually went over
the brink, and the consequences were severe.    Back in 1995 and
1996 Republicans in Congress threatened to close operations of
the federal government in order to block federal spending.  They
were emboldened, much like today’s conservatives, by recent
electoral victories.  When President Bill Clinton ref