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Obama on the debt ceiling; then and nowEthel C. Fenig January 5, 2011 Almost five years ago, in March, 2006, the usually silent junior Democratic senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, unexpectedly piped up to oppose increasing the nation's debt ceiling, explaining The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can't pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. ... Increasing America's debt weakens...

Actually, truth be told… ‘Every Dem Senator Including Obama Voted Against Raising Debt Limit In 2006…‘ H. J. Res. 47 [109th]: Debt Limit Increase resolution 3/20/2006–Public Law. (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the House passed version is repeated here.) Amends federal law to increase the statutory limit on the public debt from $8.184 trillion to $8.965 trillion.

“Reckless Fiscal Policies” Why did Obama only enumerate George W. Bush’s big spending as responsible for the out-of-control $14 trillion-plus debt, while not mentioning his own contribution of $5 trillion? Why is there a debt limit standoff now, rather than, say, in 2009 or 2010? Why did this latest $1.6 trillion Obama budget prompt the current crisis? Why did not Obama earlier start debt limit talks the moment that his own hand-picked Simpson-Bowles commission presented their findings? Why did Obama just recently submit, and have rejected, a budget that would have scheduled even larger deficits of the sort he is...

Every democrat voted “no” including Obama. Drudge just posted this debt vote reminder from 5 years ago. EVERY SINGLE Democrat opposed raising the debt limit when George W. Bush was president. Every – Single – One.

Direct from the pages of brazen hypocrisy. On March 16, 2006 the debt ceiling was raised by a vote of 52-48 in the United States Senate. Every single Democrat, including Obama,Kerry and Clinton voted AGAINST raising the debt ceiling. I wonder why they support raising it now? Here's a copied tally of the votes: YEAs ---52Alexander (R-TN) Allard (R-CO) Allen (R-VA) Bennett (R-UT)Bond (R-MO)Brownback (R-KS)Bunning (R-KY) Burr (R-NC)Chafee (R-RI)Chambliss (R-GA)Cochran (R-MS) Coleman (R-MN)Collins (R-ME)Cornyn (R-TX)Craig (R-ID) Crapo (R-ID)DeMint (R-SC)DeWine (R-OH)Dole (R-NC) Domenici (R-NM)Enzi (R-WY)Frist (R-TN)Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA)Gregg (R-NH)Hagel (R-NE)Hatch (R-UT) Hutchison (R-TX)Inhofe (R-OK)Isakson (R-GA)Kyl (R-AZ) Lott (R-MS)Lugar (R-IN)Martinez (R-FL)McCain...

Hmmmmmm

With President Obama and Democrats eagerly pushing for an increase in the debt ceiling- and the bashing of Republicans in full force for their opposition without spending cuts- one important thing should be highlighted; the hypocritical nature underway from Obama as well as fellow Democrats in Congress. For one, Obama appeared on ABC News back in April and admitted that when the 2006 debt ceiling talks were underway, he voted against raising the debt ceiling for 'political' reasons as a Senator. In addition to this, Harry Reid, also in April, claimed the debt ceiling vote was "a political maneuver' because...

This guy, Barack Obama, is a piece of work. Whether he’s pontificating about how America would not be a great country without crippling entitlement programs, rushing to a microphone to claim credit every chance he gets, or his insistence on turning eulogies and policy statements into campaign speeches designed to attack the Republicans, this man-child is in over his head. The funny part is, the Rat thinks he knows it. Think about the way he saunters down the steps of Air Force One or up the steps of a podium, loves to talk about himself with an air of faux...

President Barack Obama has admitted he put politics before his country when he voted as a freshman senator against allowing the US government to borrow more money. Now, as he seeks as president to persuade Congress to raise the US debt ceiling by next month, Obama is having to explain away that vote in 2006. "I think that it's important to understand the vantage point of a senator versus the vantage point of a... president," Obama said in an exclusive interview with ABC News. "When you're a senator, traditionally what's happened is this is always a lousy vote. Nobody likes...

In my exclusive interview with President Barack Obama, the president acknowledged that Democrats are going to bear the "burden" of extending the national debt limit later this spring – and he explained for the first time that only when he became president did he understand why his 2006 Senate vote against raising the debt limit was wrong: George Stephanopoulos: You’ve got to extend the debt limit by May. And it seems like you made up the job-- your job is a lot tougher because of your vote in the Senate against extending the debt limit…When did you realize that vote...

In my exclusive interview with President Barack Obama, the president acknowledged that Democrats are going to bear the "burden" of extending the national debt limit later this spring – and he explained for the first time that only when he became president did he understand why his 2006 Senate vote against raising the debt limit was wrong: George Stephanopoulos: You’ve got to extend the debt limit by May. And it seems like you made up the job-- your job is a lot tougher because of your vote in the Senate against extending the debt limit…When did you realize that vote...

A vote on raising the debt ceiling looms. Barack Obama on raising the debt ceiling in 2006: “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure,” he said on March 16, 2006. “Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here.’ Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership . Americans deserve better. I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt limit.” Raising the debt ceiling means a failure...

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer has joined President Obama in conceding that he blundered by voting against an increase to the government’s debt ceiling. “I have voted against the debt limit in the past. That was a mistake,” Hoyer (Md.), the second-ranking House Democrat, said in an unprompted admission to reporters on Tuesday. His comment came two days after White House adviser David Plouffe said Obama made a mistake by voting against raising the debt ceiling when he was a senator. Democrats are urging Republicans not to jeopardize the economy and the full faith and credit of the nation with...

The federal debt ceiling is the amount of money Congress will let itself borrow. Typically, each time it has been reached, Congress has reacted by merely voting to raise the limit. Now, with the urging of the Obama Administration, it wants to do so again. Failing to do so, according to the White House, would create “Armageddon-like” circumstances. The reference is to biblical prophesies of the end of the world. In other words, if the federal government doesn’t authorize itself to further enslave us to national debt, the sky will fall, the world will end and things will be otherwise...

If President Obama knew then what he knows now, he would not have voted against raising the debt limit in 2006. That was the explanation trotted out by the White House Monday, as it sought to square the administration's pleas to Congress to lift the debt ceiling by next month against Obama's voting history. As a senator in 2006, Obama voted against raising the debt limit. But White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the president now views that vote as a "mistake." "He now believes it was a mistake," Carney said. He said Obama understands that senators want to...

WASHINGTON – The White House says President Barack Obama regrets his vote as a senator in 2006 against raising the debt limit. A fight over raising the debt limit is looming, and the White House is trying to explain away the apparent contradiction between Obama's previous opposition, and his position now that it must be increased. Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday that Obama believes his vote was a mistake. He said Obama now realizes that the debt ceiling is too important to be trifled with. Republicans are threatening to withhold their votes to raise the ceiling unless Obama agrees...

Even in 2006, then Senator, Barack Obama voted against raising the debt ceiling stating, “the fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies.”

Robert Gibbs getting questioned about the president's former opposition to raising the debt series. “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here.’ Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership . Americans deserve better. I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America’s debt limit.” - Sen. Barack Obama on March 16, 2006.

Gibbs: Senator Obama Only Voted Against Raising Debt Ceiling in 2006 Because He Knew It Would Pass Anyway January 05, 2011 3:00 PM On Sunday, President Obama’s top economic adviser, Council of Economic Advisers chair Austan Goolsbee, cautioned members of Congress not to “play chicken” by voting against raising the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling – despite the fact that as a senator in 2006, President Obama voted that way. “I don't see why anybody's talking about playing chicken with the debt ceiling,” Goolsbee told me on ABC News’ THIS WEEK. “If we get to the point where you've damaged the...

The Corner Obama: Not Always a Fan of Upping Debt Ceiling January 3, 2011 12:50 P.M. By Katrina Trinko While President Obama’s economic advisor Austin Goolsbee argued Sunday that a refusal by the Senate to increase the government’s debt ceiling (currently $14.3 trillion) would be “catastrophic” and a sign of “insanity,” that’s not the position the president has held in the past. Here are Obama’s thoughts on the debt limit in 2006, when he voted against increasing the ceiling: The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is...