Congress has historically raised the debt ceiling with little fanfare and without tying it to trillions in spending cuts. But top GOP senators said Tuesday that they agree with Boehner that, because of the country's skyrocketing debt, deep cuts should be part of the discussion now. The nation's debt currently stands at $15.7 trillion.Read the rest at The Huffington Post
"I think that's the precedent that we set last time and I think that would be the minimum expectation," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Cornyn said he expected other Senate Republicans to endorse Boehner's call because they agree that the U.S. is spending too much borrowed money.
Senate Republicans Gird For Fresh Debt Ceiling Fight
by Jennifer Bendery
Platinum coin, platinum coin...
The White House signaled that President Barack Obama will have no part in another protracted fight over on the issue.
"The whole country experienced the downside of the kind of brinksmanship the Republicans were willing to engage in and the economy suffered accordingly," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said during Tuesday's briefing.
"The president is not going to do that again. It's not good for the economy, it's not good for the American people, and it's not necessary," Carney said. "The full faith and credit of the United States government should not be held hostage to the political ideology of one segment of one party."
8 comments:
So... O says he will have no part of it. That's what he says now. But does he have the stones to stop it, I mean really stop it. His own rhetoric says he agrees with them about austerity and, indeed, even Nancy Pelosi agrees. So what part won't you have Mr President?
Quote:
"The full faith and credit of the United States government should not be held hostage to the political ideology of one segment of one party."
Looks like he is going to challenge the debt ceiling on constitutional grounds. If the SC, says that he has legal options (PPCS) available to him, then platinum coin it is!
@Jonf: I agree with you completely. He will cave as he always does and say to Americans, we must make these cuts.
He will NEVER do the platinum coin--ever! He might try to invoke the 14th ammendment. Even Bill Clinton said that he should use that.
Politically, though, positioning himself as advocating more debt, which is how the public will see it and how the GOP will characterize it, may not be a workable strategy if the decision needs to be made before teh election.
Yglesias says that he has actually brought up the platinum coin idea to members of the administration, and they juts laughed at it.
Tom,
Seen this. May be of interest due to similarity:
http://www.globalnews.ca/canada/video/6442642613/story.html
The video has gone viral. Equivalent of platinum coins for Canada I guess???
Mike Norman:@Jonf: I agree with you completely. He will cave as he always does and say to Americans, we must make these cuts.
Puts on James Lawrence, Battle of Lake Erie hat, looks at Obama: Don't give up the ship!
Can someone explain why the platinum coin is a good idea?
Wasn't there a post recently (I think by Kervick) that said something like the debt ceiling only prevents more debt from being issued?… it doesn't prevent deficit spending?
Could the U.S. government continue to deficit spend without issuing more debt? Would this just flush the banking system full of reserves, thereby driving down interest rates… ?! So what? Aren't interest rates near zero anyway?
The platinum coin's a good idea if its face value is enough to get rid of the national debt and cover projected deficit spending over the next 15-20 years. That's because it takes the we're running out of money idea off the table. It would no longer be a factor in politics and people would have to debate the issues instead. The platinum coin also shows that the Government can make its own money and doesn't have yo go the private sector for it.
This stuff is politics, not economics.
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