Nasty Fight Over Debt Ceiling Brewing

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 ...

Barack Obama Is Against Raising 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 shifti...

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...

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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New Senate Republican Says Defense Budget Could Be Cut
Pennsylvania's incoming senator, Pat Toomey, widely known as a fiscal hawk, says he is prepared to work with Democrats to "ratchet back the spending" and indicated he is even prepared to look at trimming a sacred cow, the Budget for the Defense Department. The economic crisis has refocused some Republicans, including newly-minted House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., prompting them to step gingerly into this arena that is often fraught with political peril, always careful to reiterate, as To...

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 ...

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......

Marco Rubio Sworn In as U.S. Senator
Shortly after 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, and according to tradition, Marco Rubio walked down the aisle of the Senate floor with Senator Bill Nelson, D-FL on his left and retired Sen. Mel Martinez on  his right. After reaching Vice President Joe Biden at the right of the Senate President's desk, Rubio stepped up, took the oath, and became Florida's newest senator. "I'm here to be the United States senator from Florida and the best senator I can. I mean that," Rubio told reporters earlier that mor...

Supply Side Obama? Trust but Verify
The past is not always a prologue to the future. But looking at some of the big winners and losers of 2010 does provide some strong hints of a positive 2011. The biggest winner last year was the Tea Party, which shellacked President Obama in the election. Mr. Obama becomes The Biggest Loser. And The Economy and Stock Market will be the beneficiaries. The Elections were the first major step toward restoring free-market Capitalism and rolling back big-government controls, planning, and spending....

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...

Worried About the National Debt? Put It On Your Credit Card
The National Debt is growing at a rate of some $4 billion dollars a day as the 112th Congress heads to Capitol Hill wringing their hands over how to slash spending. But the United States Treasury has a simple solution for how you can help: spend more. Just put the federal Debt on your personal Credit Card. You can pay for it later. With as little effort as a few mouse clicks, Private Citizens can give Uncle Sam their spare change - or their Bank Account numbers. Since 1961, the Treasury's Bureau...

Manhattan Moment: Focus on spending, not a debt limit showdown
As the president prepares his State of the Union Speech, he must worry that another regular Washington event will overshadow it: the vote to increase the National Debt ceiling. But instead of concentrating on this figure, the president and congressional leaders should focus on The Economy. That way, global markets - the real Regulators of the Debt ceiling -- will be less likely to decide that we can't borrow any more, even if the pols say it's OK to do so. Today's Debt Limit is nearly $14.3 tril...

Rep. Ross criticizes Republican rules package related to pay-go rules
Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), co-chairman of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, criticized the Republicans' rules package for letting Trillions of dollars be added to the Debt.  "This rules package, while there are a lot of good things in it, threatens to undermine all of the hard work we have done by allowing nearly $5 trillion in Government Spending to go unpaid for," Ross said Wednesday in a statement. "That’s $5 trillion the Republicans want to add to the National Debt....

Bond crisis on the way?
With strong Christmas sales and the Stock Market surging to a two-year high, talk is spreading that the long-awaited recovery is at hand. But gleaning the news from Europe and Asia as U.S. cities, states and the Federal Government sink into Debt, it is difficult to believe a worldwide Financial Crisis that hammers governments, banks and bondholders alike can be long averted. Consider. Fitch and Moody's have just downgraded the debt of Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Hungary. In Budapest, the poli...

As National Debt Obama Ran Up Tops $14 TRILLION (with a T), Obamas Architect of Economic Disaster Whines About Debt Limit
Well, look, it pains me that we would even be talking about this. This is not a game. You know, the Debt ceiling is not something to toy with. If we hit the Debt ceiling, that’s essentially defaulting on our obligations, which is totally unprecedented in American history. The impact on The Economy would be catastrophic. That would be a worse financial economic crisis than anything we saw in 2008. No doubt defaulting on U.S. obligations would be bad, but Goolsbee’s missing the point. ...

DeMint: We Have to Draw the Line, Fight Increase in Debt Ceiling
Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.) emphasized today that Republicans need to fight any attempt to increase the Debt ceiling, saying that Republicans are being “blackmailed” by the Democrats’ threat of a government shutdown. “We have to stop this [increasing the Debt Limit], and so I think this is a time where we insist on the Balanced Budget amendment. We should not be frightened by the fact that oh, we’re going to shut the government down,” DeMint said in an intervie...

Battle Brewing Over Federal Debt Limit
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....

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...

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

Democrat Blames Reagan, Bushes For Deficits
(CNSNews.com) - In his last day as House Majority Leader, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) put much of the blame for America’s growing Debt on past Republican administrations, including former President Ronald Reagan. “Ronald Reagan came in and adopted an economic program that created $1.4 Trillion in Deficits over the next eight years,” Hoyer said in a Capitol Hill Press Conference on Tuesday, where he appeared with other members of the Democratic House Leadership. “George...

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...

WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Using The Debt Ceiling To Send A Powerful Message. Austan Goolsbee, Obamas
Washington Examiner: Using The Debt Ceiling To Send A Powerful Message. Austan Goolsbee, Obama’s chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, expounds in horror that not raising the National Debt ceiling yet again would be “insanity.” Goolsbee should consult a floor Speech delivered not so long ago by a certain member of Congress who offered this counterargument to automatic debt ceiling increases: “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America&...

Glenn Beck And Judge Napolitano: Raising Debt Ceiling Is Beginning Of The End Of The Republicans
Glenn Beck appeared on Judge Napolitano ’s show Freedom Watch and they agreed that if the Debt ceiling is raised then no lessons have been learned by the big spending Congress. Despite the warning of Austan Goolsbee , chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, that not raising the ceiling would be “catastrophic” and “insanity,” both Beck and Napolitano seemed willing to accept such an “insane catastrophe” presumably because that’s th...

Debt ceiling: DeMint threatens to blow up government; Ryan, Graham look for hostages
Lindsay Graham knows what he wants in exchange: Social Security cuts in the form of raising the Retirement Age and means testing. Because, of course, Social Security doesn't add to the Deficit and never has. But you can't let a little fact like that get in the way of demagoguery on "shared sacrifice." At the moment, the White House is talking tough. Appearing on ABC's "This Week," Austan Goolsbee, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, laid out the fairly alarming implications of th...

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...