Posted on 01/14/2013 6:20:31 PM PST by Alex Baker
We have once again reached the debt limit and most legislators want to blast right through as usual. Obama says he doesn’t even want to discuss it. Those who want some spending cuts are threatening to block continued spending unless there are real cuts. That brings us to two ploys that are being considered by the big spenders.
First, some are saying the President doesn’t need Congress for spending authority. They say the 14th Amendment would allow Obama to spend without regard to the limit, even though the constitutions says all spending must be authorized by Congress. Second, some say there is a magic trick we can do that will fix things. The magic trick is to put a platinum coin in the Federal Reserve and say it is worth a trillion dollars. Then government would write checks on that trillion without borrowing money.
Functionally, depositing the platinum coin would be the same as depositing a lump of coal. Both would be about the same distance from actually having a value of a trillion dollars. An absurd stunt like this would confirm the worst fear of prospective bond buyers… that we are not serious about dealing with our debt. The credit rating agencies would come to the same conclusion.
Each of us needs to decide where the craziness lies in this debate. If you think reality will allow us to spend our way out of debt, go with Krugman. If you think people will continue to fund our increasing debt by buying our bonds when it becomes clear that we cannot possibly pay the debt, go with Krugman.
(Excerpt) Read more at realitybatslast.com ...
http://www.realitybatslast.com/2013/01/13/magical-thinking-on-the-economy/
There will be no spending cuts.
Is it crazy to threaten not to pay for debts already voted on and approved in Congress and damage our credit rating and the economy? Why were Republicans voting for all those expenses these past 6 years anyway when they had the majority in the House?
Is it crazy to threaten not to pay for debts already voted on and approved in Congress and damage our credit rating and the economy? Why were Republicans voting for all those expenses these past 6 years anyway when they had the majority in the House?
You must have missed Nancy Pelosi being speaker of the house.
She was not speaker for the 108, 109 and 112th Congress. She was speaker for the 110 and 111th Congress. So for 6 of the past 10 congresses she was NOT the speaker and Dems were not the majority.
” Why were Republicans voting for all those expenses these past 6 years anyway when they had the majority in the House?”
Four of those years Nancy Pelosi was the Speaker of The House with a Democrat Majority.
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