The Republicans Made Up Crisis

[lame54]

http://www.executivegov.com/2011/04/5-things-you-should-know-about-the-debt-ceiling/

The debt ceiling was raised repeatedly during World War II, once every year from 1941 to 1945. In the years immediately following the war, the ceiling was actually lowered.
However, according to the CRS report, since 1962, Congress voted through 74 separate measures to raise the debt ceiling.
Of those 74, 10 occurred in the past decade according to National Journal reports.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/graphic-10-years-10-broken-u-s-debt-ceilings-20110411

Since the debt limit’s introduction in 1917, Congress has never failed to raise it. But now, in the midst of a serious spending debate, some Republicans may threaten to hold the increase hostage unless they see substantial cuts in government spending. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H, said on Wednesday, “As a new member of the Senate, I refuse to perpetuate this cycle. We cannot let this moment pass us by and I cannot in good conscience raise our debt ceiling without Congress passing real and meaningful reforms to reduce spending. That plan should include a Balanced Budget Amendment, statutory spending caps, spending cuts, and entitlement reform."
To be clear, reaching the debt ceiling would not directly trigger a government shutdown in the way a failure to negotiate a budget would. And the debt is not to be confused with the deficit, which represents the difference between spending and revenue, but is vulnerable to its effects.

[deacon]

1. And the media was right there to help them sell their shit to the nation. n/t

[ixion]

2. they didn't make it up. We have a serious problem. They DID however

help it to become serious.

Yes, we've raised the debt ceiling in the past. That doesn't mean that it's always going to be so.

[lame54]

3. Bullshit...

this is pure anti-Obama

[ixion]

7. No, it's simple macro economics. It is distinctly NOT political

so don't even try to pull that "Obama hater" hogwash.

[lame54]

12. OH - I'm calling it...

their #1 priority is to defeat him in 2012

how can you look at the history and not see this as pure political

[ixion]

13. I'm not saying the GOP isn't leveraging the issue for all it's worth, politically

but that is something very different from the simple fact that 15 trillion dollars is very close to 100% of the US GDP, and an overall unacceptable amount of debt.

It was the GOP, however, in the Bush years that added the lion's share of this burden. Be that as it may, it is increased debt nonetheless. And when much of that is because of our hostile occupations abroad, I don't support continually increasing the debt ceiling. I favor ending our hostile occupations and making the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share.

What I favor, though, isn't what this is about. This is about raising the debt ceiling and continuing our so-called 'wars' on terror and (some) drugs -- a.k.a. a war on most of the world. And Endless War, and an endless revenue stream for the MIC.

[lame54]

14. but we are not talking about the routine raising of the debt ceiling...

we are talking about THE FIRST EVER FIGHT AGAINST RAISING THE DEBT CEILING

[A wise Man]

4. So why are they complaining

about the debt ceiling now under Obama after 2.5 years when Bush gave away a surplus and run the debt up so high that only a miracle could bring it down.NOOOOOOOO...this wasn't President Obama's fault...lay the blame where it should lay..."ON BUSH AND THE REPUBLICANS". From 2000 to 2006 the republicans fucked this country up ROYALY, then blamed it all on Obama.

[ixion]

8. Because NOW they're making it political

it has always been an issue, and they contributed to it GREATLY all those times they raised the ceiling with little to no debate.

[RC]

10. They are blaming Clinton for setting the stage and getting things going.

And they are skipping over the eight years of bu$h as if he had nothing to do with the current economic mess.
Never mind Obama put the wars on the books where they should have been in the first place. Thereby making the deficit suddenly looking much worse. That is how they are blaming Obama for their mess, because of the sudden spike in a bar chart.

[liberalla]

5. Moody's suggests U.S. eliminates debt ceiling

How about this? I've heard it discussed in the past couple of weeks, but now that one of the rating agencies is suggesting it, it seems realistic and worth consideration. IMO.
_______________

Moody's suggests U.S. eliminates debt ceiling

"(Reuters) - Ratings agency Moody's on Monday suggested the United States should eliminate its statutory limit on government debt to reduce uncertainty among bond holders.

The United States is one of the few countries where Congress sets a ceiling on government debt, which creates "periodic uncertainty" over the government's ability to meet its obligations, Moody's said in a report."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/18/us-usa-debt-moodys-idUSTRE76H0WH20110718?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=71



From another thread...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1512997

[msongs]

6. and the democrats leadership is going right along with all this, adopting repub policies nt

[butterfly77]

9. ...

[ProfessorGAC]

11. How Did "Entitlement" Become A Perjorative?

The reason why SS and Medicare are called entitlements, is that PEOPLE ARE ENTITLED TO THEM! They paid into the system over their careers under the promise that when they got old, they would be taken care of, just like the folks who were getting the money being paid in at the time.

Now, it takes on a negative connatation that people "feel" entitled to it. People don't feel it. They ARE entitled to it. A promise is a promise.
GAC