Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said last night during an appearance on the conservative Fox Business channel that he is “willing” to cause “serious disruptions” to the U.S. economy in order to maintain the nation’s debt limit.
“The reason the president hasn’t addressed the issue even though we knew it was facing us, and this is the fourth time he’s asked for an increase in the debt limit, he has been burning time — that’s what Biden was supposed to do is get the Republicans behind closed doors — is burn the clock up until we have a crisis,” he told Judge Napolitano, Fox Business’s libertarian host.
“So now we’re at the point where there would have to be some serious disruptions in order not to raise it. I’m willing to do that, I just don’t think we can find enough of Republicans and Democrats to say it’s time to stop spending.”
Republicans have been holding the U.S. debt limit extension hostage in Congress, pressing the potential for a government default in August. During the Bush administration, those same lawmakers voted 19 times in favor of increasing the nation’s debt limit, ramping it up by nearly $4 trillion to support the wars and other new spending, virtually all of which was handled on credit.
If the government defaults, America’s credit worthiness would be significantly impacted, Social Security payments would be frozen, the nation’s gross domestic product would tumble and active duty soldiers would not receive their paychecks. Many economists warn that it could even spark another global financial crisis of greater magnitude than the 2008 credit collapse, which led to President George W. Bush initiating the massive bank bailouts.
This video is from Fox News, broadcast Wednesday, July 6, 2011.
