Tag: Debt Ceiling
It’s Better to Preserve Than Try to Restore Credit
Credit worthiness is like virginity, it can be preserved but not restored very easily, so it is crazy to play around with it.
— Warren Buffett, in an interview on CNBC.
I Really Want to Buy Into This Slate Pitch, But …
I’m not sure I can swallow the assertion that Barack Obama is the shrewdest political tactician since LBJ, but David Corn does make a compelling case, and I really do want to believe that all this time Obama knew exactly what he was doing on Syria, Putin and the debt showdown.
I suppose he’s just being Lincoln-esque. Again …
Do you buy the pitch?
GOP Playing Russian Roulette in Debt Ceiling Debate
An approach to the debt ceiling that says one will not vote for its extension unless ObamaCare is defunded is the political equivalent of playing Russian roulette with all the chambers of the gun loaded. It is the ultimate no-win strategy.
— Former Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), writing for The Hill.
Budget Showdown Looming in Mid-October
Protecting the full faith and credit of the United States is the responsibility of Congress, because only Congress can extend the nation’s borrowing authority. Failure to meet that responsibility would cause irreparable harm to the American economy.
— Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, explaining in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner sent Monday, Aug. 26, the consequences of not extending the debt ceiling.
Joe the Congressman
Man, it’s been a long, hot, miserable political summer!
And Congress’ debt-ceiling debacle was a real bummer.
Why not elect a handyman
Who’s only kind of partisan?
Yep, what this Congress deserves is Joe the Plumber.
Boehner’s Favorable Rating Drops 10 Points
A second national poll released after the tea party threatened to force the United States into default during the debt-ceiling negotiations finds voters holding an unfavorable view of the GOP tea party in particular.
The tea party’s favorability declined from six percentage points, from 37 percent in July to 31 percent now
On Aug. 5, a CBS/NYT poll found that 40 percent of Americans had an unfavorable view of the tea party, the highest percentage recorded since CBS/NYT started polling the question.
Now a CNN poll finds that the hostage-taking tactics of the Republicans and their dominant fringe minority may have taken a toll on their collective public support, according to Huffington Post:
‘Compromise’ Is Not a Four-Letter Word
The word ‘compromise’ is not a filthy word. If you can’t learn to compromise an issue without compromising yourself then you shouldn’t be a legislator.
— Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY), quoted by National Public Radio.
S&P Cites Tea Party’s Extortion Politics, Which It Calls ‘Political Brinkmanship,’ in Downgrading U.S. Credit Rating
In explaining why it was lowering the U.S. credit rating late on Friday, Standard & Poor’s singled out tea party obstructionism on the economy:
“The political brinkmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective and less predictable than what we previously believed,” said S&P, one of three leading credit rating agencies.
“The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy.”
“Brinkmanship” is putting it politely, of course. A better description is economic terrorism or political extortion.
It was the tea party, not the Democrats, who took the economy to the brink in the debt-ceiling negotiations, and yet, predictably, conventional wisdom in the Beltway has it that S&P was referring to everyone in Washington — that the hostage negotiators are just as bad as the hostage takers.
