Posted on 04/17/2011 7:06:12 PM PDT by Qbert
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner boldly predicted that Congress will vote to raise the debt ceiling next month, warning that failure to do so would bring "catastrophic" consequences for the U.S. and global economies.
Geithner, appearing on ABC's "This Week," said that if House Republicans were to push the vote to the brink or fail to raise the limit, it would "make the last [financial] crisis look like a tame, modest crisis."
Geithner said that Republicans have told President Obama they "recognize we have to do this, and we're not going to play around with it."
"There's no alternative, and they recognize that," Geithner said. Geithner said the Republican leadership assured Obama in a meeting at the White House on Wednesday that they understand the gravity of the debt ceiling vote and that they will vote to raise it.
"The responsible people up there understand that," Geithner said.
But Republicans appearing on the Sunday talk shows demonstrated how tough a fight the White House might be facing just weeks after a near-shutdown of the government spurred by debates over fiscal 2011 spending.
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said on CBS's "Face the Nation' that he has not been informed of any communication from House GOP leaders that they will back a raising of the debt ceiling no matter what.
Ryan said that, as he understands it, GOP leaders have told the White House: “In addition to raising the debt limit, we want financial controls, we want cuts in spending accompanying the raising of the debt ceiling.”
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), a member of the Senate Gang of Six negotiations, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, (D-Md.), newly named to the Biden budget talks by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), previewed the battle to come with Coburn making clear that he and other Republicans will not vote to raise the debt ceiling without an agreement on cuts.
Coburn made plain that he will not accept an increase in the nation's $14.3 trillion debt limit in the coming weeks without agreement on a debt reduction package.
“What do I need? I need absolute certainty that we've made the critical changes that are necessary to put this country back where it needs to go. And unless we do that, there is no way I support it,” he said.
“We are going to have a debt crisis either this or soon thereafter if we don't come together, so its time to come together,” he said.
Van Hollen, ranking member of the Budget Committee, said President Obama has laid out a “two-track” process whereby a "clean" debt ceiling bill is passed, and a deficit package is developed separately.
Freshman Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said on CNN's "State of the Union" that he is unsure of how he will vote on raising the debt limit or whether he might filibuster an attempt to do so.
"I think we haven't yet determined what our strategy is going to be," the Tea Party favorite said, "but I can tell you that the people of Kentucky elected me to shake things up."
Geithner said that failing to raise the debt limit would result first in the U.S. stopping payments and benefits to seniors and veterans before risking default on interest loans.
Default, Geithner said, would have a "permanent devastating effect" on the nation's credit-worthiness.
"No responsible person" would play politics with the debt ceiling, Geithner said.
The White House has sent mixed signals about what Obama will accept in the debt ceiling debate.
From the beginning, White House officials made a push for a "clean" bill raising the ceiling, but Obama has suggested in recent days that he would be open to coupling the debt ceiling with more spending cuts in an effort to mollify the cutting appetites of House Republicans.
Geithner said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the White House will work parallel to the debt ceiling debate to find other ways to cut spending, but "if we haven't worked all that out, we're still going to have to raise the debt limit."
On "This Week," Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.) previewed the challenge the White House and House Speaker John Boehner will face in persuading Tea Party lawmakers to sign on to raising the debt ceiling.
Southerland and other conservative Republican lawmakers warned that before they will sign on to raising the debt ceiling, they want to see spending caps and other dramatic steps taken to cut spending.
"We've got to have some guarantees," Southerland said.
Geithner was also asked Sunday if he will stay on for a second term with Obama.
The Treasury Secretary demurred but indicated that he was enjoying the job.
"I've got a lot on my plate still. We've got a lot of challenges ahead," Geithner said. "I'm going to keep at trying to fix what's broken here."
-- Erik Wasson contributed.
This story was updated at 11:45 a.m.
Why am I not surprised?
More “Profiles in Courage”.......
Catastrophic Consequences? Catastrophic consequences my ....
Yeah, so are we going to get out of bombing third world countries?
Are we going to get people out of serious unemployment, where they can actually contribute to the funds?
What a waste!
Well, of course they will. Was it ever really in doubt? Seriously?
Yep. And evidently the little elf doesn’t think that the impending loss of our Aaa rating due to massive debt will be a catastrophic consequence.
If raising the Debt limit a little is necessary to ward off collaspe, why do we not double the ceiling to 28 Trillion dollars.
Would that not be fun Awesome, Super, much better?
More doom and gloom from the people that created this mess.
IT’S all Obamaa’s fault. And he gets us into another war to boot.
So he not a responsible person under your definition?
They better not!!!
If I ever appear to believe so much as a single word coming out of a democrats mouth, please, put a bullet in my head.
*Boner* was probably busy all weekend writing his *post-cave* speech on why it was the only thing he could do.
STOP IT ALL OF YOU!!
It is the opening salvo of the left to get ahead of the issue.
Geez. Relax. It might happen. It might not. But there is no way it is going to happen if the 4 trillion from Ryan doesn’t get put in place. At that point you can raise it to 20 Trillion. Who cares? The deficit will be coming down, or at least it should.
Can’t wait for this one to start serving his prison sentence.
They say the same thing for everything - TARP, Stimulus, Obamacare, etc.
It has worked well for them so we can expect it.
Ramp up a “recall” petition for every spineless rump-swabbing SOB that votes to raise it!
The GOP “leadership” are an incompetent gaggle of eunuchs, clueless of the American mood! Damn fools are playing with fire... They are stoking the simmering coals of a revolt.
These Gutless Old Poltroons should be covered with hot pitch and feathers, strapped to an old ass—with a water jug hung off a stick in front of its nose... and sent packing into the into desert.
Turbo Tax timmy?
oh yeah...I believe him...totally...
They seem to be two different things...
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