DeMint: We Have to Draw the Line, Fight Increase in Debt Ceiling

Gibbs defends Obama 2006 vote against raising debt ceiling
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs today defended a 2006 vote by then-senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) against raising the nation’s Debt ceiling. The vote to raise the Debt ceiling will be a major battle next year because Tea Party-backed Conservatives have vowed to let the government default on its debts rather than authorize a raising of the $14.3 Trillion limit. Republican leadership is expected to use the situation to force deep Spending Cuts to the 2012 Budget. White House economic ...

When Spending Cuts Get Real
More adventures in Republicans grappling with the fact that actual spending programs are popular. Here's Paul Ryan refusing to say what programs he would cut: MEREDITH VIERA (HOST): You say Discretionary Spending — give me specifics. Where are you going to cut? Are you gonna cut transportation, education, Medicare — what are you going to cut? RYAN: That is what is gonna happen in the appropriations process down the road. So I can't tell you the answer to that because, as a Budget c...

Rep. Paul Ryan comes up short on specifics for spending cuts
Perhaps one of the reasons the House Republicans are reneging on their Spending Cut pledge is because, well, they don't have a clue what they're doing. Here's wunderkind Paul Ryan, unable to come up with one specific cut. MEREDITH VIERA (HOST): You say Discretionary Spending — give me specifics. Where are you going to cut? Are you gonna cut transportation, education, Medicare — what are you going to cut? RYAN: That is what is gonna happen in the appropriations process down the road....

Glenn Beck tells D.C. politicos to Cowboy up on the debt ceiling
What this means is the Federal Government would have to stop borrowing and could possibly default on its monetary obligations if Congress fails to increase the ceiling before the limit is reached.  Some Democrats want to lie and scare the voters that the Republicans in the new Congress will seek to block an increase in the Debt Ceiling unless a plan is in place to significantly reduce federal spending and unfunded government liabilities on entitlement programs such as Social Security and Me...

Will He Say He Has No Choice or Will He Use Seigniorage?
The media and much of the blogosphere are framing the coming Debt ceiling decision as one in which the Republican-majority House may refuse to extend the Federal Debt ceiling, thus forcing both a Government shut-down, and also a possible default of the US in paying its Debt obligations to its creditors. Republicans saying they will not vote to extend the ceiling see this as an opportunity to force Spending Cuts out of the Democrats and the Obama Administration. This second round of hostage-takin...

The coming debt ceiling showdown (Part One)
Once the Republican Congress is officially sworn in, they will be faced with an immediate dilemma that will be a true test as to how they will govern. There will be a vote to raise the $14.3 Trillion National Debt ceiling in the coming months and time is already short. The National Debt officially hit $14 Trillion last weekend and may reach the $14.3 Trillion mark by March.   Refusing to raise the Debt Limit would either force the Federal Government to stop spending or create a default.
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Walking on the supply side with Obama
Larry Kudlow likes what he see so far: The point is, if Team Obama is moving towards an entrepreneurial incentive model of growth, and away from the false consumption model of big-government spending, it’s very good news. Already we have seen a new free-trade initiative. And there’s even talk of broad-based, personal-income tax-rate flattening that could be part of a big-bang tax-reform package. And the congressional momentum is decidedly toward lower spending. Without question there’s go

Early Morning Swim: Republicans Playing Chicken with Debt Ceiling, Reports Chris Hayes on MSNBC
Batshit. Tea Party champion Sen. Jim DeMint says he’s ready for a “showdown” with President Obama over raising the government Debt ceiling. DeMint’s threat is setting up a high-stakes game of chicken on Capitol Hill with Republicans demanding stark Spending Cuts before they consider raising the Debt Limit and Democrats warning that a failure to do so would trash the country’s Credit Rating and risk a government shutdown. “This needs to be a big showdown,R...

RYAN: WILL RAISE DEBT CEILING IN RETURN FOR SPENDING CUTS
NYTIMES: The incoming Budget chief in the House of Representatives on Wednesday said he will demand spending concessions from the Obama Administration in exchange for any increase in the national Debt ceiling. Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who is about to take over the House Budget Committee as its new Republican chairman, also said in television interviews that the Republicans' $100 billion target for Spending Cuts this year has been "compromised" by federal spending already under w...

Republicans Vow to Cut Spending
(FOXNews.com) - As a new and politically divided Congress prepares to convene Wednesday, the newly muscular Republicans and the White House seem to be on a collision course over whether to raise the federal Debt ceiling. Some Republican lawmakers have vowed not to vote to raise the Debt Limit unless there is a plan in place for dealing with long-term obligations, including Social Security, and for returning to 2008 spending levels. But the White House says that refusing to raise the limit would ...

The $100 Billion Question, Part 2
My guess is going to be those Spending Cuts are going to be a lot less than $100 billion, especially for anybody with 2012 aspirations. Of course, that would explain why most of your 2012 GOP prospective Candidates are out of office right now, but all the GOP House will be facing voters again in two years as well. Many people knowledgeable about the federal Budget said House Republicans could not keep their campaign promise to cut $100 billion from Domestic Spending in a single year. Now it appe...

Nasty Fight Over Debt Ceiling Brewing
Lawmakers and prognosticators are bracing for some of the biggest fights on Capitol Hill to revolve around the National Debt, which the Federal Government recently announced reached $14 Trillion and climbing as of yesterday.  There is a growing amount of concern from both Democrats and Republicans who fear debates over the Budget could be pushed to the brink, with an initial brawl over the official Debt ceiling limit which stands at $14.3 trillion. Republicans, with a new majority in the Ho...

Flashback 2006: Dingy Reid Says Raising Debt Ceiling Will Weaken Country, Hurt The Economy
“If my Republican friends believe that increasing our Debt by almost $800 billion today and more than $3 Trillion over the last five years is the right thing to do, they should be upfront about it. They should explain why they think more Debt is good for The Economy.” Click here to cancel reply....

Congressman Who Intends Vote Against Raising Debt Ceiling Doesnt Know What That Would Mean
Newly-elected Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina doesn’t want to raise the Debt ceiling, but when asked on Fox Business what that would mean his answer: “I don’t know.” “What do you think would happen if the Debt ceiling wasn’t raised?” he was asked. Well, I don’t know. I’ve asked that question, I’ve asked that question a lot. I’ve heard Goolsbee on Sunday say it’d be catastrophic, I’ve heard others say that. I’ve a...

Reid on Raising Debt Ceiling in '06: Weakens Country, Hurts Economy
“If my Republican friends believe that increasing our Debt by almost $800 billion today and more than $3 Trillion over the last five years is the right thing to do, they should be upfront about it. They should explain why they think more Debt is good for The Economy. You must login to comment. The Fox Nation is for those opposed to intolerance, excessive government control of our lives, and attempts to monopolize opinion or suppress freedom of thought, expression, and worship. Read more......

As A Senator President Obama Voted Against Raising the Debt Ceiling, Called it Leadership Failure
My, oh my, how things change. In 2006 President Obama, who at the time was a First Term US Senator with ambitions, voted against raising the Debt ceiling. He said: “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s Debt Limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … I...

Tea Party Activists Take Hard Line On GOP Agenda
Republicans preparing to take control of the U.S. House when the 112th Congress convenes Wednesday have been scrambling in recent days to salute the Tea Party Activists who helped drive Democrats from power last November. They've ordered a reading of the Constitution on opening day and required that all new Legislation cite a constitutional provision permitting the proposed action. They've pledged to cut 2.6 percent of the House operations Budget and teed up a largely symbolic vote on repealing ...

Rev. Jesse Jackson: GOP goes after most vulnerable
After holding the country hostage to force continued Tax Breaks for the wealthiest Americans, Republicans are now announcing their second priority: cutting Government Spending, particularly the part that goes to the most vulnerable of Americans. In the Republican New Year's radio address, incoming Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire announced that for newly elected Republicans, "Job One is to stop wasteful Washington spending. . . . The American People sent us to Congress with clear instruction...

Paul Ryan: 'I'm Not Talking About' Debt Issues Today
Paul Ryan may be the new Budget guru in the House, but today he seems more interested in basking in GOP victory than talking about the tough Legislation ahead. In a gaggle with reporters just now, Ryan was asked if "in a couple months" he could envision the new majority in the House voting to raise the Debt ceiling. "I'm not talking about that stuff today," Ryan said as he walked out of the Speaker's lobby behind the podium that is now Boehner's to control. [TPM SLIDESHOW: Meet The New House R...

Quote of the Day: Barack Obama on the debt ceiling
“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s Debt Limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s Debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that “the buck stops here.” Instead, Washington is shifting the b

The Unseriousness Of The Right
Their healthcare proposal? Nothing that would begin to cover what ObamaCare would - but an increase in the Deficit and Debt. Their Budget proposal? No cuts to entitlements or defense, no tax hikes, and pathetic squabbling over Discretionary Spending. I'm with James Hamilton: If you have a concrete proposal to raise Tax Revenue or cut spending, then put it on the table. But if you simply want to grandstand on the debt ceiling as if it were a stand-alone issue, it is clear that you have nothing ...

Whose Line Is It?
, give yourself a golfclap. And if you are scratching your head furiously at the seemingly unbelievable hypocrisy after how just four years later, the president's own economic advisor Austin Goolsbee said that a refusal by the Senate to increase the government’s Debt ceiling would be “catastrophic” and a sign of "insanity" don't worry, you are not alone. In fact, very few people can believe the self-professed "insanity" of the very people who four years ago were all about prude...

The Growing Social Security and Medicare Problem
It’s the beginning of a New Year, meaning crowded gyms, commercial breaks filled with weight-loss ads, and a glass-half-full attitude about the upcoming year. That glass half full should be just enough to dissolve my Alka Seltzer, because all this positivity is enough to give me heartburn. You’ll have to pardon my less than cheery spirits. I am, after all, in the minority amongst my generation, who happen to be the most optimistic age group when it comes to our financial circumstan...

DeMint: Don't Raise the Debt Ceiling
Showdown: Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., a leader of the conservative, tea-party-backed wing of the Republican Party says his GOP colleagues in Congress should stand firm to avoid an increase in the Debt ceiling. He’s ready for a major fight with President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats, The Hill reports. “I think we should resist that [raising the Debt ceiling],” DeMint says in an interview with conservative magazine Human Events. “We need to have a showdown, at thi...

New Tea Party Reps Tell Diane Sawyer Pain Should Be Shared By Everyone
As the new Congress settles in, ABC World News‘ Diane Sawyer spoke with eight new representatives and two senators-elect about what they have planned. Among the topics discussed: raising the National Debt limit as The Continuing Resolution and the vote to raise the Debt ceiling loom over Washington. The “new kids” in Congress shared with Sawyer that they are willing to support a higher limit for our national debt, just as long as it is accompanied by an agreement to achieve a b...