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Title: The Debt Showdown: The GOP's "Blank Check" Lie
Source:
Mother Jones
URL Source: http://motherjones.com/politics/201 ... eiling-boehner-blank-check-lie
Published: Jul 27, 2011
Author: David Corn
Post Date: 2011-07-27 13:21:51 by go65
Keywords: None
Views: 1146
Comments: 3
Raising the debt ceiling is not equivalent to dispensing a blank check. In fact, Republicans, in Orwellian fashion, are turning black into white. With a blank check, a bearer is free to write (and then spend) any amount he or she places on the note. Thus, a blank check enables future spending. Raising the debt ceiling is about permitting the US government to cover past spending—and the blank checks of the past. These particular blank checks were issued by the Republicans during the Bush years. They voted (with the help of some Democrats) for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq without budgeting for them. They did the same with a Medicare prescription-drug benefit. They also green-lighted President Bush's tax cuts without accounting for the drop in revenue they would cause. Together these blank checks account for two-thirds of the deficit, if not more. (See this chart.) By claiming the debt ceiling is the problem, the Republicans are blaming the bank for the bank robber's action. Moreover, raising the debt ceiling does not hand Obama any more authority to spend. Congress controls spending—and the Republicans control the House and have filibuster power within the Senate. If Republicans want to clamp down on spending, they can endeavor to do so through the appropriations process. Holding the line on the debt ceiling will not turn off any spigot. The United States will continue to run up debt; the government just won't be able to pay its bills—which will likely lead to greater interest rates and, consequently, more debt.
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#1. To: go65 (#0)
One thing that needs to come out of this is that appropriating money shouldn't be a separate activity than raising the debt ceiling. The Congress shouldn't have any power to appropriate money unless they either: A.) pay for it, or B.) decide right then and there whether or not to increase the government's debt to facilitate it.
Yet another point where we are in full agreement. Congress should have simply raised the ceiling and fought this battle in the fall when it appropriates funds for FY2012. There is absolutely no need for this crisis now. It's political grandstanding which is going to hurt real people.
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Moot point. They aren't under any such constraint. IN fact, the Founders and the Framers both knew and, in fact sought, that establishing and maintaining international credit was necessary to a functioning and viable government. Also, one of the early "compromises" was when the central goernment assumed the war debt incurred by the separate states some of which had defaulted on that debt and were in danger of collapse.
America...My Kind Of Place... "I truly am not that concerned about [bin Laden]..." "THE MILITIA IS COMING!!! THE MILITIA IS COMING!!!" I lurk to see if someone other than Myst or Pookie posts anything...
To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. — Thomas Jefferson
#2. To: jwpegler (#1)
One thing that needs to come out of this is that appropriating money shouldn't be a separate activity than raising the debt ceiling. The Congress shouldn't have any power to appropriate money unless they either: A.) pay for it, or B.) decide right then and there whether or not to increase the government's debt to facilitate it.
#3. To: jwpegler (#1)
The Congress shouldn't have any power to appropriate money unless they either: A.) pay for it, or B.) decide right then and there whether or not to increase the government's debt to facilitate it.
--GW Bush
--Sarah Palin's version of "The Midnight Ride of Paul revere"
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