Obama aide: Don't 'play chicken' with debt ceiling

[Joanne98]

Source: WP

WASHINGTON -- The top White House economic adviser is warning against what he calls "playing chicken" with the need to raise the nation's debt ceiling.

For some conservatives, refusing to raise the limit on the federal debt would be a tactic to force the government into cutting spending.

Last February, Congress raised the debt ceiling to $14.3 trillion. The debt is now at nearly $13.9 trillion and growing each day. A move to raise the ceiling again is expected this spring.

The chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, Austan Goolsbee, says that refusing to raise the debt ceiling would push the country into default - and a far greater economic crisis than Americans saw in 2008.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

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Look at the way the WP worded this story. The republicans are going to "force the government into cutting spending". That is NOT what they're doing and I'm sure the WP is fully aware of that. The Republicans have been on CNBC telling them that what they're trying to do is lower the tax rate for the rich to 28%. I'm sure the WP has people who can watch TEE VEE to find out what they SAY they're doing.

This is a sign of the way the media is going to report fights in Congress. Just LIE about what's happening to help the Republicans deceive the voters.

[Skink]

1. Go ahead play Chicken.

Force obama to raise taxes.

[DCKit]

13. Or, to end the wars.

Then, to cut the crap out of the Pentagram's budget.

That'll fix 'em.

[Po_d Mainiac]

14. +1000

Lots of problems get cured.....

[bhikkhu]

16. Exactly - tax cuts and war are the big budget problems

and the repugs are on the wrong side of both of them,

[Parche]

2. thanks to gw bush

we need to get this down
the interest on this is obsurd

[dballance]

3. I Hope They Do It. They'll never live down the ramification of crashing the US economy.

Just like Newt and his bad of a-holes.

[daa]

5. Obama is no Clinton the repugs will clean his clock - again nt

[MannyGoldstein]

7. You assume that Obama did not want that outcome

Given the total lack of fight, I'm not sure that's a reasonable assumption.

[Dokkie]

11. and you are assuming the rethugs

are really against the raising of the debt ceiling. Its going to be raised alright its just that I hope and dead and long gone before the bills come due. The main losers are going to be the future generations who will be stuck paying down money borrowed to fight endless wars because contrary to what we hear on TV, its not used for social security and medicare (which has already been paid for and running huge surpluses)

There are few area where I want the rethugs to win and raising the debt ceiling is one of them, end the wars and tax the rich if they do not want to default.

[MannyGoldstein]

12. The Rethugs just want more money for the rich

Everything else is simply a tool for them to use in that quest.

[Unvanguard]

19. Obama is president and will be blamed. n/t

[earthside]

4. It's too late.

Obama's capitulation on extending tax cuts for the super wealthy and the estate tax cuts has already put him on the side of the "chicken players".

His so-called 'Deficit Reduction Commission' also put him on the side of the "cut spending" mob.

I, for one, would hope that Democrats in Congress announce in no uncertain terms that raising the debt ceiling OR default is a decision that lies completely with the new U.S. House majority. Period.

[lark]

32. You are assuming that Obama has a spine

when so far there is exactly zero evidence that he has even a shred of one. He's a tool who will do exactly as his rich, corporatist masters demand.

Lindsey Graham was on TV today saying he'd vote down the debt ceiling increase unless social security was cut first. That's it, exactly what the Repugs #1 wet dream is and the reason they let Obama win in the first place - only a Dem can cut social security just like only Nixon could go to China in the 70's.

[MannyGoldstein]

6. It's a set up to slash Social Security

Obama will be "held hostage" over this and be forced to slash Social Security.

Very transparent.

[midnight armadillo]

8. Can you say flat tax and a VAT?

that'll be the deal to preserve Social Security. And we'll be told to shut up and love Obama for it.

[MannyGoldstein]

9. We already have a flat federal tax

The median American pays a total of 16%, and the wealthiest pay 17% (due to capital gains).

Now Obama and company want to steal the pension fund that working Americans have built up.

[Jackpine Radical]

15. Well, Manny, once again

you have saved me the bother of posting exactly the same thing.

Then the next capitulation will occur when he has to buy more unemployment extensions in 13 months. He will again exchange permanent damage to the social fabric in exchange for minor temporary concessions that he would have gotten anyway.

[MannyGoldstein]

17. Hey, just returning the favor!

We're fairly screwed for some time to come, no?

[Safetykitten]

10. For a person who plays chicken badly, he sure brings it up alot.

[Jackpine Radical]

18. Hew plays Chicken just fine.

Unfortunately the other side is playing Fox.

[GeorgeGist]

20. If the sky is falling ...

what difference does the height of the ceiling make?

[Kelvin Mace]

21. Threats and tough talk are meaningless

when the other side knows you will cave EVERY time.

[harvey007]

22. Goolsbee Says Failure to Raise U.S. Debt Ceiling Would Be `Catastrophic'

Source: Bloomberg

The government is slated to hit the legal limit on borrowing, $14.3 trillion, early this year. Congress must agree to raise that ceiling or the U.S. could be forced to default on its obligations.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-02/goolsbee-says-...

[BlueJazz]

23. Screw that shit. These Sons-a-bitches ran on the premise that they can cut taxes..

...balance the budget, create lots of good jobs and (almost) walk on Water.
I want to see them come face-to-face with that "Pesky" thing called Reality.

[GeorgeGist]

24. $47,666.67 ...

is too damn high; except for the Rich.

[No Elephants]

25. Will Social Security be held hostage?

[customerserviceguy]

26. Everything the Federal government is involved in will be held hostage

And therein lies the true power of the tea partiers. They'll either get the blame if everything shuts down for more than a couple of days, or they'll get the credit for forcing reductions in government spending.

Establishment Republicons are working furiously to get them to play go-along, get-along, just like everybody else in Congress, but this might be the place where it doesn't work. A tea partier can either go home in 2012 because people didn't like the government shutdown, or he/she can go home because their districts are mad that they didn't do a shutdown when they had the chance.

My theory is that they would prefer the former as the reason they're not going back to Congress.

[No Elephants]

33. thanks. I should have been more specific: Will Republicans insist on cuts to OASDI

before raising tbe debt ceiling, with Obama saying he had no choice because Republicans were holding the American people hostage?

IOW, can we expect a repeat of the recent tax cuts for the rich/unemployment benefits scenario?

It was more of a rhetorical question/worry, but I appreciate your reply.

[girl gone mad]

27. So stop borrowing to spend.

Why pretend we're stuck on the gold standard at the same time the Fed is printing trillions to float zombie banks?

[high density]

28. So cue the teabaggers...

[Doctor_J]

29. We could use a catastrophe

Whatever it takes to get the guillotines oiled up.

[Javaman]

30. It's one of those "the nation wouldn't survive this" type of arguments.

aka the politicians in charge or currently serving wouldn't survive this.

While not raising the debt ceiling probably would cause all sort of accounting problems and appears very dire on paper, I believe the nation will muddle along anyway.

And besides, raising the debt ceiling only delays the inevitable anyway. As our debt goes up and up, the real presumed worth of the dollar continues to plunge.

They could raise the debt to 30 trillion, it won't do a damn thing. We still live in a fiat economy.

the libertarians scream and yell about how we should go back to the gold standard, well here's something to chew on about that: there isn't enough gold in the world to cover just the dollar.

The dollar is linked semi-permanently to oil. 1/3 to 1/2 of our trade deficit is due to oil.

But honestly since the report on the m3 was abolished by george w. moron*, we really have no idea how many US dollars are currently in circulation. And since oil production and distribution is at plateau, I can bet you that there certainly isn't enough recoverable oil of worth (aka sweet crude) to cover the amount of US currency in circulation.

So what is the dollar based on? A really nice wish. It has no intrinsic value other than what those in power claim it is.

So those people screaming about raising the debt ceiling or we will face dire consequences are amusing. We already are facing dire consequences.

This is what end of empire looks like folks. Track how many times and how often the debt ceiling has had to be raised to cover our obligations for the past 20 years. It has accelerated dramatically.

We will hit the brick wall in about 5 years, when it will no longer matter how high we raise the limit, the dollar will effectively be worthless to everyone in the world.

Aka someone finally had the nerve to pull back the curtain on the great oz.

[Doctor_J]

31. Yeah, the prez is so good at chicken