http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42536397/
There's more at the link. Boehner's big talk is worrisome. Those poll numbers are more worrisome. That's why I post this. Let's all be aware of what playing around with the debt ceiling means.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42536397/Washington is gearing up for a battle over how many trillions the federal government can borrow to pay its bills, and it's shaping up to be an even bigger brawl than the one just resolved over funding the government for the next six months.
While investors viewed last week's budget brinksmanship as a minor event, they are beginning to grow concerned that many lawmakers and ordinary Americans, fail to grasp the implications of even suggesting the United States would default on its debt obligations.
What is a political football to Congress could end up flattening the economy and hurting consumers by lowering the nation's pristine credit rating and sending interest rates sharply higher.
The Treasury is warning it will reach its $14.3 trillion limit on borrowing, known as the debt ceiling, in early May. Instead of a straight up-or-down vote on raising the cap, Republicans are threatening to attach policy measures on issues such as abortion funding and environmental regulation. Such "riders" were the main sticking point's in last week's budget showdown.
Anything that threatens to derail or delay the process of raising the debt ceiling is a red flag for markets. The longer it takes and the deeper the divide in Washington, the more markets will worry that the United States, the world's largest debtor nation, will default on its debt obligations with economy-rattling consequences.
On Saturday, House Speaker John Boehner told reporters that President Barack Obama had asked him for a "clean bill" on raising the debt ceiling.
"Well, guess what, Mr. President, not a chance you're going to get a clean bill," said Boehner. "And I can just tell you this. There will not be an increase in the debt limit without something really, really big attached to it."
Negotiations over lifting the debt ceiling will also be complicated by the debate over bigger spending cuts for the upcoming fiscal year. The White House is expected to offer up its plan Wednesday to cut the $1.5 trillion federal deficit.
Raising the debt ceiling will require the approval of at least some Republicans in both the House and Senate. As the GOP plots strategy, its hard-line stand has strong voter backing.
According to a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, only 16 percent of voters said Congress should raise the debt ceiling, while some 46 percent said they were opposed. When told that would mean the U.S. could default on its debt, 32 percent supported raising the limit. But 62 percent said they opposed lifting the cap even if it meant the Treasury would not making good on its debt payments.
This, oh this!It's actually sick that the nation has come to this point that now not raising the debt ceiling again (has been done literally dozens of times in past several decades) is considered the problem. That is not the problem, it is a symptom. The government spends almost twice what it brings in. THAT is the problem, the ceiling is a symptom.
I think you have that a bit reversed. The GOP was so proud of itself for making inconsequential budget cuts and passing the budget. They have therefore already decided that that is the amount of money that needs to be spent. Not raising the debt ceiling after making such a declaration is equivalent to admitting that the budget was impossible and that they were completely wrong to pass it in the first place. The money is already spoken for - it's just a matter of whether or not the government will pay its bills.We won't default.
But the debt ceiling may have a powerful influence on the next budget. By limiting the debt ceiling you limited the budget.
Fern
It's actually sick that the nation has come to this point that now not raising the debt ceiling again (has been done literally dozens of times in past several decades) is considered the problem. That is not the problem, it is a symptom. The government spends almost twice what it brings in. THAT is the problem, the ceiling is a symptom.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42536397/
There's more at the link. Boehner's big talk is worrisome. Those poll numbers are more worrisome. That's why I post this. Let's all be aware of what playing around with the debt ceiling means.
I'm not the only one who calls him boner am I?
Nothing worrisome about Boehner's "big talk". Spending must be cut. If riders have to be attached to every bill coming out of Congress to achieve that, so be it. Somebody has to take on a position of responsibility.
that's not his name? :hmm:
Let Boehner default on the national debt.
I think you have that a bit reversed. The GOP was so proud of itself for making inconsequential budget cuts and passing the budget. They have therefore already decided that that is the amount of money that needs to be spent. Not raising the debt ceiling after making such a declaration is equivalent to admitting that the budget was impossible and that they were completely wrong to pass it in the first place. The money is already spoken for - it's just a matter of whether or not the government will pay its bills.
People keep telling me I'm saying it wrong, but it clearly says boner every time I read it.
It's actually sick that the nation has come to this point that now not raising the debt ceiling again (has been done literally dozens of times in past several decades) is considered the problem. That is not the problem, it is a symptom. The government spends almost twice what it brings in. THAT is the problem, the ceiling is a symptom.
Obama should veto any non-clean bill. The debt ceiling should be determined by the free markets, not Boehner.
Yes, corruption of the system by the rich, so that the rich are undertaxes (skyrocketing their share of the society's income and wealth), and massive overspending on the corrupted industries, directly (e.g., defense) and indirectly (e.g., Wall Street being allowed to be a leech or, a la Matt Taibbi, a 'giant vampire squid wrapped around the face of America' - those are the problems and the rest are symptoms. Cutting the relatively cheap items that benefit the public is bad. The right simply wants to win a class war.
You look at those 9000 earmarks on the Stimulus Bill and see how many of those things are cheap items that benefit the public.
You look at those 9000 earmarks on the Stimulus Bill and see how many of those things are cheap items that benefit the public.