Nevermind Obamacare. Worry About the Debt Ceiling.
No matter what your political beliefs or your views on the Affordable Care Act, if you are a decent person, you believe in paying your bills. If you use a credit card, you make your payments every month. Same as you do with a mortgage. At least, the vast majority of us do, and there has never been any question about our collective representative--the United States government--paying its bills on time and in full.
Not anymore. Today, the honor, trust, and credibility of our government’s ability and willingness to pay its debts is being used as an ideological football in the House of Representatives. When the House majority threatened, as it did in the summer of 2011, to refuse to authorize an increase in the debt ceiling, it declared to the world — to the very people we sell treasury notes to every day – that the United States is planning to default on its debt.
The debt-ceiling authorization has historically been a perfunctory mechanism. Here’s why. While Congress must vote to authorize it, the vote has nothing to do with controlling spending. It’s a vote to honor our commitments, i.e. fund the checkbook that pays the bills we've already accrued. Is that something that deserves a House vote at all?
An honorable Congress knows in its bones that the full faith of the United States of America is at stake. The mere threat to withhold authorization, in fact, is as damaging to our credit rating as actually defaulting. Sure, it’s great political theater, but it does lasting damage to America’s reputation and credibility, and makes one wonder how long the rest of the world will allow the dollar to remain the global reserve currency.
This post originally appeared on The Daily Beast, October 1, 2013. Click here to see in its entirety.
Photo: Getty Images News
Tech. at MaxCare O&P
11 年It is my belief that this so-called "WEB-SITE" that they're having all of these problems with. Was put into place to take our focus off of other problems, like the 'Debt Ceiling.'
Automotive Professional
11 年USA is close to default, soon the lenders will refuse to to stuff anymore trillions into this bloated ponsi scheme and walla the great capitalist monster automatically corrects its self. The $ looses half its value and americas goods are wanted everywhere. The nation goes back to producing tangible products that can be used for man and beast. Instead of shuffling paper tigers, printing IOUs, provoking wars, Al Gore bleating armegedon, Murdock pleading for war like empire, McCain demanding 30 new wars. The assembly lines shudder into action, blue collar workers actual earn cash and trucks roar up and down the highway with gleaming new products, a sort of call production. Bring it on. What happens to the 30 million sons of Regan and Clinton that have degrees in financial twiggery pokery, silver tougued lawyers, business studies adnausea, media, pr and general creative accountancy. I guess they can all work in the plants and bring in millions of Chinese,Japanese,Russian,Indian and south American imigrant engineers that can actually do something and not produce acres of computer crap and hot air.
Web Development Manager at University of Cincinnati
11 年I have notice that during the shutdown and lack of funds to run the government, my taxes did not stop being pulled from my paycheck. Why do we have a problem? They are still taking our money... Why would the US be defaulting? OH YEAH we are spending money we don't have.
GM BU | CMO | Marketing Director | ESG & CSR | Board Advisor. ex Unilever | Reckitt | Kimberly | Ferrero ... Guest lecturer Essec, Neoma ...
11 年NOT "nevermind", sorry. This article is incredibly one-sided and controversial. And therefore of little added value and possibly of a mindset which led to the deadlock in the first place. Both parties agree that bills must be paid. The question is when and how, not if. Funding and debt can have many sources and allocations.
Automation Engineer for Toyota
11 年Obama is starting to act freaking weird...