The debt ceiling blame game

By Tom Quiner

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyLmru6no4U&feature=player_embedded]

Is there anything wrong with raising the debt ceiling?

A Senator said yes. He charges the president for being “unpatriotic” and “irresponsible” for asking to have the debt ceiling raised.

Who is this Senator? You guessed it: the former junior senator from Illinois, Barack Obama.

It is wrong when a Republican wants to raise it, but okay when a Democrat wants to do it.

Senator Obama chastised former President Bush for driving up the national debt to $10.6 Trillion by the time he left office. Senator Obama was justified in being upset. I would put more blame on the Congress that actually authorizes the spending. Let us also remember that Democrats controlled Congress from 2006 until 2010. So the debt crisis is certainly bi-partisan.

However, once Senator Obama became President Obama, the debt ceiling has rapidly increased to the point that Mr. Obama wants it raised to $16.4 Trillion.

The problem now is squarely a problem of the Democratic Party. Government indebtedness significantly increased once Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid took the reins of the House and Senate respectively. The Senate hasn’t even passed a budget in three years.

When Republicans retook the House in 2010, they have advanced a modicum of fiscal restraint, only to be blocked by the President and the Democratically-controlled Senate.

Senator Obama was correct: government indebtedness was out-of-control during the Bush years. I wish President Obama agreed.

2 Comments

  1. Hermes on February 1, 2012 at 9:26 pm

    If you were hired after March 31, 1997 and are riiertng because you are age 55 with 30 years of service or age 60 with ten years of service, according to the bill an actuarial would be “monetizing” the value of what your premium amount would be at that time. At this time, the answer is unknown.



    • quinersdiner on February 1, 2012 at 9:38 pm

      I’m not clear what you’re trying to say.