About the debt ceiling

[Quantum Windbag]

Anybody wonder who started the practice of tying non budget items to the debt ceiling?

Democrats, specifically Kennedy and Mondale in 1973.

In 1973, when Richard Nixon was president, Democrats in the Senate, including Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Sen. Walter Mondale (D-Minn.), sought to attach a campaign finance reform bill to the debt ceiling after the Watergate-era revelations about Nixon’s fundraising during the 1972 election. Their efforts were defeated by a filibuster, but it took days of debate and the lawmakers were criticized by commentators (and fellow lawmakers) for using “shotgun” tactics to try to hitch their pet cause to emergency must-pass legislation.

How about tying repeal of a law that they didn't like to it?

(Look, something else Obama has in common with Carter.)

One of the most striking examples of a president being forced to accept unrelated legislation on a debt-ceiling bill took place in 1980. The House and Senate repealed a central part of President Jimmy Carter’s energy policy — an oil import fee that was expected to raise the cost of gasoline by 10 cents a gallon. Carter vetoed the bill, even though the United States was close to default, and then the House and Senate overrode his veto by overwhelming numbers (335-34 in the House; 68-10 in the Senate).

Obama?s claim that non-budget items have ?never? been attached to the debt ceiling

 

[waltky]

Granny says our leaders is leadin' us to ruination...

Think Shutdown Is Bad? Wait Until Debt-Ceiling Battle
October 02, 2013 ~ While the effects of the partial government suspension are starting to be felt, one thing's for sure: The budget stalemate woes would pale in comparison to the fallout from an impasse over the debt ceiling.

The financial markets are already starting to get the jitters over the prospect of a debt-ceiling showdown. A similar stand-off in 2011, combined with the shaky state of America's finances, contributed to the first-ever U.S. credit downgrade. Washington would risk another, and worse, if officials cannot come to an agreement by an Oct. 17 deadline. "There is a consensus that we shouldn't do anything that hurts this recovery that is a little bit shallow, not very well established, and is quite vulnerable. And the shutdown of the government but particularly a failure to raise the debt ceiling would accomplish that," Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein said, after a meeting at the White House with other executives. "There is precedent for a shutdown. There is no precedent for default."

The debt-ceiling debate is now the backdrop to virtually all discussions about how to resolve the current impasse over the budget. While the federal government can limp along with fewer workers and fewer services, a failure to raise the debt ceiling could cause shockwaves. The Dow Jones Industrial Average took a dive Wednesday morning amid concerns over the deadlock in Washington. President Obama, meanwhile, met with the CEOs of major banks to discuss both the partial shutdown and the debate over the debt ceiling. Obama has invited congressional leaders from both parties to meet at the White House at 5:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, where both those topics will be on the table.

Obama and others warn that a failure to raise the debt ceiling would have consequences that ripple through the economy. "It would be far more dangerous than a government shutdown -- as bad as a shutdown is. It would be an economic shutdown," the president said Monday. The worst-case scenario is a default on U.S. debt, though there are other ramifications short of that that would also impact Americans. The government would be forced to make strategic decisions about what to spend limited money on, so many government functions could once again be suspended. Further, interest rates could rise, jacking up the cost of student loans, mortgages and other loans. That's to say nothing of the impact on the stock market, and Americans' retirement accounts.

Some Republicans want to use the debt-ceiling vote to extract additional concessions, much of which pertain to cutting spending. "I'm not going to raise the debt ceiling yet again without addressing why we're in debt," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News. He and other Republicans argue that these spending cuts are critical in order to bring the federal budget back to a sustainable level and, ultimately, start to reverse the seemingly inexorable rise of the national debt. Some Republicans, though, also want to use the debt-ceiling vote to extract concessions over ObamaCare. From their standpoint, it's for the good of the economy.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Here we go again...

‘The Debt Ceiling Issue Will Get Resolved’
May 25, 2017 | On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called for a clean debt ceiling increase by August, but the House Freedom Caucus says it will insist that any increase in the debt ceiling be accompanied “by cutting where necessary.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan told a news conference on Thursday: We’re talking with our members on this. Every treasury secretary says this and every treasury secretary needs to say this. And we’re going to be talking with our members and with the administration on how we’re going to resolve the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling issue will get resolved. The timing is what I think is the newsworthy thing here. (Tax) receipts aren’t quite what people thought they were, and that’s why Secretary Mnuchin is moving the timetable up. So we’re look at that new timetable. Democrats will insist on a clean debt ceiling bill, which means no “poison pill” riders that curtail future spending.

But in a statement on Wednesday, the House Freedom Caucus wrote: The U.S. federal government is drowning in debt, yet continues to spend into oblivion on the backs of future taxpayers. We have an obligation to the American people to tackle Washington’s out of control spending and put in place measures to get our country on the right fiscal course. In order to accomplish this end, the Freedom Caucus has taken a three-fold position: we oppose any clean raising of the debt ceiling, we call for the debt ceiling to be addressed by Congress prior to the August Recess, and we demand that any increase of the debt ceiling be paired with policy that addresses Washington’s unsustainable spending by cutting where necessary, capping where able, and working to balance in the near future.

The debt ceiling, or debt limit, is the total amount of money that the United States government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest on the national debt, tax refunds, and other payments. The debt limit does not authorize new spending commitments. It simply allows the government to finance existing legal obligations that Congresses and presidents of both parties have made in the past. The Treasury Department says failing to increase the debt limit would have catastrophic economic consequences, causing the government to default on its legal obligations.

Ryan: ‘The Debt Ceiling Issue Will Get Resolved’

 

[MACAULAY]

This is a Dance. Think elegance. Classical Music. Blue-bloods.

It is called the Pussy-Republican Waltz.

The Debt Ceiling nears....the Pussy Republicans try to reign in the promiscuous spending... they mean well, they are just Pussies...the Bolsheviks refuse, and threaten to let the Government default and shut down unless they get the full increase they would have gotten if the Clinton Termagant had gotten elected....and here's is where the Pussy-Republicans fold...the Bolsheviks threaten to call out the Lap Dogs in their Propaganda Subsidiary....the New York Media.

The Dance ends with the Pussy-Republicans bending over and dropping the trousers....Hell, Paul Ryan brings his own Vaseline.

But, they are only taking it symbolically....for us Productive Citizens its real, and we learned long ago that we'd best bring our own Vaseline...you gotta give Paul Ryan credit, he at least learned that.

________

 

[yiostheoy]

Congress must raise the debt ceiling. There is no choice.

If they don't they will have massive government shutdowns and layoffs.

Then this will cause another massive economic bust.

And this will result in Pelosi and Schumer taking over Congress.

So there is no choice.

They may b!tch and moan about it but they have no choice.

 

[g5000]

Trump is going to need that debt ceiling raised another $10 trillion higher while he's President.

And you Chumps will just sit there and take it.

 

[Windship]

Do you really KNOW what a debt based economy REALLY is?