The Debt Ceiling is Scarier This Time

[Raz'r]

Hmmmmm.

Trump: ‘Under no circumstances’ should Republicans cut Social Security or Medicare​

Every once in awhile, a blind squirrel finds a nut.

Although the comment is selfish, in that Republicans will get destroyed in 2024 if they get what they want, which they won't given the Senate and Prez. But it will give the Dems a lot to run on in 2024.

 

[billy backstay]

Here's a good exlplanation of the debt ceiling....... (emphasis is mine)

"Imagine you walk into a restaurant with a group of friends. You ask for a table for six, and you follow the hostess to a booth. Everyone studies the menu and then places an order. A draft beer and a bacon cheeseburger. Pinot Noir and a medium-rare steak. A glass of chardonnay and the red snapper. Mushroom risotto and a diet coke. An old-fashioned and the braised pork chops. Chicken Alfredo and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. The waiter takes the order to the kitchen, and the chefs begin to prepare the meals. By ordering the food and drinks, you’re committing to pay the tab. Now suppose everyone gets up and walks out, stiffing the restaurant instead of paying the bill.

As I said in this interview with Ali Velshi last week, House Republicans are threatening to stiff a bunch of people that the government has already promised to pay."

The Debt Ceiling Limit is Destructive, Duplicative, and Dumb

If you’ve been reading or watching the news, then you know that the US hit its self-imposed debt ceiling limit of $31.381 trillion on Thursday, January 19. It’s a pity it didn’t happen on February 2, because Groundhog Day is pretty much the perfect way to mark the occasion. Here we go again!

stephaniekelton.substack.com

 

[phillysailor]

Here's a good exlplanation of the debt ceiling....... (emphasis is mine)

"Imagine you walk into a restaurant with a group of friends. You ask for a table for six, and you follow the hostess to a booth. Everyone studies the menu and then places an order. A draft beer and a bacon cheeseburger. Pinot Noir and a medium-rare steak. A glass of chardonnay and the red snapper. Mushroom risotto and a diet coke. An old-fashioned and the braised pork chops. Chicken Alfredo and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. The waiter takes the order to the kitchen, and the chefs begin to prepare the meals. By ordering the food and drinks, you’re committing to pay the tab. Now suppose everyone gets up and walks out, stiffing the restaurant instead of paying the bill.

As I said in this interview with Ali Velshi last week, House Republicans are threatening to stiff a bunch of people that the government has already promised to pay."

The Debt Ceiling Limit is Destructive, Duplicative, and Dumb

If you’ve been reading or watching the news, then you know that the US hit its self-imposed debt ceiling limit of $31.381 trillion on Thursday, January 19. It’s a pity it didn’t happen on February 2, because Groundhog Day is pretty much the perfect way to mark the occasion. Here we go again!

stephaniekelton.substack.com

I think we’ve already had the meal, and are now refusing to pay the credit card bill.

 

[giegs]

In some cases there's already partial payment for projects. I've got work coming up that can only be done during the winter, supplies already purchased. If there's a shutdown, the window for that work will pass and it'll have to wait for next year. Depending on how it's funded, the originally allocated money to do the work may no longer be available.

Small fry example, but I don't envy federal contracting officers when this kind of nonsense happens.

 

[dacapo]

Here's a good exlplanation of the debt ceiling....... (emphasis is mine)

"Imagine you walk into a restaurant with a group of friends. You ask for a table for six, and you follow the hostess to a booth. Everyone studies the menu and then places an order. A draft beer and a bacon cheeseburger. Pinot Noir and a medium-rare steak. A glass of chardonnay and the red snapper. Mushroom risotto and a diet coke. An old-fashioned and the braised pork chops. Chicken Alfredo and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. The waiter takes the order to the kitchen, and the chefs begin to prepare the meals. By ordering the food and drinks, you’re committing to pay the tab. Now suppose everyone gets up and walks out, stiffing the restaurant instead of paying the bill.

As I said in this interview with Ali Velshi last week, House Republicans are threatening to stiff a bunch of people that the government has already promised to pay."

The Debt Ceiling Limit is Destructive, Duplicative, and Dumb

If you’ve been reading or watching the news, then you know that the US hit its self-imposed debt ceiling limit of $31.381 trillion on Thursday, January 19. It’s a pity it didn’t happen on February 2, because Groundhog Day is pretty much the perfect way to mark the occasion. Here we go again!

stephaniekelton.substack.com

Who the fuck are the losers who went out to a restaurant and ordered the Chardonnay and red snapper, the mushroom risotto and Diet Coke ( oh, some whiny bitch, vegan ) and the chicken Alfredo and Sauvignon blanc?
Lame Lame Lame.

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

Will the Best Americans suffer from a default? If “no,” it will happen. If “yes,” it will be averted.

 

[Mrleft8]

Is it illegal to shoot congresspersons? Asking for a friend.

On a related note, just got my first Twitter suspension for suggesting that Justice Thomas should consider seppuku. I'll have to be more subtle next time I encourage scum to off themselves.

Depends on who you are, and which party they belong to.

 

[Steam Flyer]

I think we’ve already had the meal, and are now refusing to pay the credit card bill.

It's more like a revolving line of credit, that needs to be bumped because the company is expanding.

 

[Voyageur]

Ok, what kind of financial games go on, while the toothless mob, says shut it down? the house taliban party, will fold, when their owners tell them to. follow the money, i say.

 

[phillysailor]

Ok, what kind of financial games go on, while the toothless mob, says shut it down? the house taliban party, will fold, when their owners tell them to. follow the money, i say.

I hope they fight enough to embarrass themselves and piss off their underwriters. The pendulum might swing in favor of competent leadership and they’d be out a job and back to their doublewides.

 

[Raz'r]

There’s something about these fuckers, they really do want to destroy the economy and the political system as a result.

 

[Ishmael]

There’s something about these fuckers, they really do want to destroy the economy and the political system as a result.

Fucking nihilists.

 

[billy backstay]

We could soon be facing the biggest financial crisis in history as Republicans threaten to stop paying America's bills

Republicans are using the debt ceiling as a bargaining chip, and their actions could torpedo the economy in the process.

www.businessinsider.com

"Failure to raise the debt limit will not reduce our debt, but it would wreck the economy if it led to a default. Unfortunately many Republicans seem determined to find out how catastrophic a default would be through experience," Rep. Don Beyer, a Democrat from Virginia, said in a statement to Insider.

He added: "Republicans accorded President Trump clean, bipartisan debt limit increases to cover the costs of debts which many of them voted to incur, and there is no reason for them to refuse to do the same under President Biden other than pure partisan politics."

"In exchange for not crashing the United States economy, you get nothing," Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz previously told The Daily Beast. "You don't get a cookie. You don't get to be treated like you're the second coming of LBJ. You're just a person doing the bare minimum of not intentionally screwing over your constituents for insane reasons."

 

[billy backstay]

Five truths about the pending debt-ceiling fight that the mainstream media doesn't want you to know​

"Both-sides"ism is rampant. And it's seriously misleading the public.​

Robert Reich

Friends,
Few things make me as furious as the mainstream media’s reluctance to tell the public what the Republican Party is doing — and instead hide the truth behind “both sides” rubbish. How the hell can democracy work if The New York Times, CNN, and even National Public Radio obscure what’s really going on?

Let me state five central truths about the pending fight over the debt ceiling and show you how the mainstream media is distorting each of them.

Truth #1: The fight is being waged solely by the Republican Party. The Democrats did not pick this fight. When Trump occupied the White House, Republicans voted to increase the debt limit three times without incident. Over the last quarter century, it has been raised over a dozen times.

You wouldn’t know this from the way it’s being covered. Last Thursday’s Times, in an article titled “Months Before a Potential Crisis, Both Parties Kick Off a Fiscal Blame Game,” leads with the wildly false equivalence that:

“Members of both parties are intent on painting the opposition as culpable for the turmoil that would result from a catastrophic default on the debt this summer….
Administration officials say Republicans are provoking an unnecessary crisis by insisting on deep spending cuts …. [But Kevin McCarthy] has started early trying to lay the blame at the feet of Democrats instead. As Republicans vow to extract spending cuts in exchange for an increase in the debt limit, Mr. McCarthy insists it is Mr. Biden and his allies in Congress who are acting cavalierly by refusing in advance to negotiate on such reductions, and they who are risking upheaval if they do not shift their position. The clear inference is that whatever happens will be the fault of Mr. Biden and Senate Democrats.

CNN is no better. Anchor Erin Burnett has framed the fight as “a dangerous game of chicken,” in which “Republicans refuse to raise the debt ceiling without any strings attached,” while “the White House — well, they are going to the opposite extreme.”

White House going to the opposite extreme? Hello?

CNN congressional correspondent Lauren Fox even describes Republicans and Democrats as “retreating to their corners” and “sticking to their political talking points.”

Truth #2: The fight has nothing whatever to do with controlling the national debt. It has to do with paying the nation’s bills. The “debt ceiling” is merely an accounting convention. The national debt is comprised of obligations already incurred. If Republicans were serious about controlling the national debt, they’d be willing to consider tax increases — including repeal of the giant Trump tax cut that went mostly to big corporations and the very rich. But the national debt isn’t on their minds.

Yet the mainstream media is intent on treating this as a fight over the national debt.

On CNN’s major political talk show last Sunday, anchor Jake Tapper suggested to Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) that it would be “irresponsible” for the GOP not to force a fight over the debt ceiling, saying, “We have these crazy deficits, crazy national debt. It's $30 trillion right now … Isn't it time that Congress takes this seriously? And would the Republicans be irresponsible for not forcing this conversation?” In an interview with the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, Tapper said that it’s “a problem” that “the U.S. government spends a lot more money than it takes in” and that Democrats are unwilling to negotiate. “Republicans say they are willing to come to the table to discuss raising the debt ceiling but they also want to discuss negotiations to reduce future government spending. … Are you willing to at least sit down and see if there is a deal to be made in any way?”

Truth #3: For the last half century, Democratic administrations have been more fiscally responsible than Republican ones. I was part of Bill Clinton’s administration, which balanced the federal budget after Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush had racked up record deficits. Obama cleaned up after George W. Bush’s runaway spending and tax cuts. The Trump administration added a whopping $7 trillion to the national debt.

Yet if you watch or listen to the mainstream media, you’d think that the two parties are equally fiscally irresponsible and will be equally at fault for whatever happens next.

Introducing a pair of segments, CNN anchor John Berman said “Republicans refuse to budge on demands and Democrats refuse to budge on negotiations.”

Truth #4: The real reason Republicans are waging this fight is they see it as a backdoor way of attacking the two most popular (and largest) safety nets in the federal government: Social Security and Medicare. They dare not take on these programs directly. But the GOP believes that negotiating over the debt ceiling gives them an opportunity to begin to shrink these programs.

The mainstream media barely mentions this underlying strategy. Politico refers to raising the debt limit as a “political stalemate” and describes the positions as: “Conservatives want a deal that includes spending cuts, but the White House says meeting the country’s obligations should be non-negotiable.”

Truth #5: The act of holding the full faith and credit of the United States hostage is the economic equivalent of aiming a nuclear missile at the American (and world) economies and demanding concessions. It’s not a bargaining tactic. It’s a terrorist tactic.

Yet the mainstream media makes it sound as if Republicans have long used fights over the debt ceiling to counter Democratic spending. Consider this, in last Friday’s The New York Times, in an article titled “A Political Fight is Again Putting the Economy at Risk.”

Republicans, in particular, have used the passage of bills increasing the limit as leverage to try to force spending cuts on Democratic administrations …. If lawmakers have a problem with spending, the debt ceiling offers a way to protest….

The media are even blaming Democrats for not negotiating over the debt ceiling. On NPR’s Morning Edition, political correspondent Susan Davis said, “For now, McCarthy is the only leader at the negotiating table.”

Of course McCarthy is the only one at the negotiating table. The Biden administration and the Democrats are not negotiating because raising the debt ceiling should be non-negotiable.

Friends, I’m not even talking here about Fox News or its many far-right imitators. I’m referring to the so-called “moderate” mainstream media that most Americans rely on for their news.

The pending fight over raising the debt ceiling is complicated. If the mainstream media gets it wrong, how do we expect most Americans to get it right?

Five truths about the pending debt-ceiling fight that the mainstream media doesn't want you to know

"Both-sides"ism is rampant. And it's seriously misleading the public.

robertreich.substack.com

 

[Steam Flyer]

Cue the RWNJ spew that ALL MEDIA LIES followed shortly by screeching about the terrible very-bad no-good horrible libby-rull bias in news media.

 

[Bus Driver]

Cue the RWNJ spew that ALL MEDIA LIES followed shortly by screeching about the terrible very-bad no-good horrible libby-rull bias in news media.

That's assuming they even read it.

 

[SloopJonB]

That's assuming they can even read.

FTFY

 

[Dog 2.0]

Senate Republicans Call for Budget Reform in Exchange for Votes to Raise Debt Ceiling

Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rand Paul (R-KY), and other Republican senators spoke with reporters about negotiations on Capitol Hill over the debt ceiling. The senators stressed that there is no need for the budget to default and called for compromise from both parties to balance the budget. When...

www.c-span.org

 

[tybee]

the House republicans are about to cut their own throats.
they approved of the expenditures but now don't want pay the bill.
lyin' assholes.
the dems don't need to move an inch in negotiations.

 

[Bus Driver]

Is Senator Johnson telling the truth when he says "That's a total lie" regarding reports the House GOP wants to cut Medicare and Social Security?