Jack Balkin writes about the not-so-happy anniversary of the Debt Ceiling Crisis:
In the past, some politicians (including then-Senator Barack Obama) have voted against debt-ceiling increases for reasons of symbolism or protest, but not in situations where there was any actual danger that the increase would not occur. Now Republicans changed the rules of the game: They used the threat of economic catastrophe to force the president to adopt their preferred policies. As Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell put it in an excess of candor, threatening to default on the nation’s debts was “a hostage that’s worth ransoming [because] it focuses the Congress on something that must be done.”
Obama was caught off guard. He had neglected to include a debt-ceiling increase in the April 2011 budget agreement because he did not believe that the Republicans would dare attempt such a maneuver. Seemingly confounded by the new strategy, he agreed to protracted negotiations with congressional Republicans in the summer of 2011 to resolve the crisis through cuts in federal programs, much to the consternation of his political base. In the meantime the press was filled with insistent warnings that continued intransigence on raising the debt ceiling would send the world economy off a cliff.
I’ve been getting some political calls lately* informing me that I should volunteer and donate money to defeat a local Republican congressman. And what, you may ask, did the robocall tell me was the reason I should oppose my congressman?
His vote to raise the debt ceiling**. The bastard.
* – It would be more neat having three phone numbers (excluding mobile and Googlevoice) if the end-result was not my getting calls like this in threes.
** – Okay, that wasn’t the only reason they gave. It was the first reason given, though.
Y’know, if they really wanted to not have so much debt, they could just try not spending what can’t be paid for…
Or, God forbid, raising taxes to pay for it.
Or a blend of both.
Maybe congressional candidates should have to pass a math test before being placed on the ballot.
Then again, public polling regularly shows voters have the same contradiction (desiring all at once a balanced budget, low taxes, and higher spending on almost everything) when it comes to the budget, so I get the feeling that’d start getting into territory we’ve already been through and decided was terrible rather quick.
That’s crazy talk.
devaluation of our currency is occurring in spades. haven’t you been watching rates?
it will be paid for… eventually.
The debt-ceiling thing is just idiocy. Might as well get rid of it and give the power to automatically raise it to Treasury. Congress sets spending and taxation levels, which themselves mandate whether more borrowing needs to be done.
Having a seperate vote to allow Treasury to borrow the money Congress already spent is stupid.