Looks like it will go through Jan 15, and there will be a panel create to work on deficit reduction.
One of many tweets:
”@j_strong
“It’s all over. We’ll take Senate deal” … “People are thinking about primaries, they really are”
Home › T19 Categories › * Economics, Politics › Senate leaders could Soon announce deal to raise debt limit and reopen the govt
Senate leaders could Soon announce deal to raise debt limit and reopen the govt
8 comments on “Senate leaders could Soon announce deal to raise debt limit and reopen the govt”
T19 Access
Search
Categories Main
Categories Exhaustive
T19 Resources
T19 Access
Search
Categories Main
Categories Exhaustive
T19 Resources
The clock is ticking
I suppose the same disasters that befell us and the world when the sequester and the shut down took place will again befall us again if the debt limit isn’t increased?
When you don’t pay your debts, you’re in big trouble. Even the Soviets paid the Czar’s old debts because they knew that foreign lenders didn’t think of them as the Czarist government’s debts — they thought of them as Russian debts. You welch on your debts, nobody ever lends money to you again (or they do so at extortionate rates) and you’re pretty much toast, economically speaking.
I think using the term “default” is an irresponsible play for domestic political gain, regardless of its international ramifications or effects on the markets. There’s no way we are even close to actually defaulting. Rep. David Schweikert (Republican from Arizona) [url=www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/10/15/house_republicans_want_to_make_it_harder_for_treasury_to_avoid_a_debt_crisis.html]took the press to task on the issue, saying[/url]: [blockquote]When you have 18 percent of GDP coming in in cash, less than 2 percent going out in debt coverage—I’m stunned you all fall for it in the press. None of you were math majors, were you?[/blockquote]
That’s not to say there wouldn’t be problems if the debt ceiling weren’t raised, but default on the debt can only happen if the administration chooses to do that.
If I were a Republican, I wouldn’t count on getting reelected to Congress next November. But, [b]both[/b] parties are equally responsible for the mess in which we’ve found ourselves. They had [b]nearly a year[/b] (I believe) to pass a budget, yet they didn’t. If they had, things might not have gone as far as they did. It’s one thing to cast blame for this mess, but personally, I’m glad for the respite…..however short it may prove to be. Federal employees are going to go back to work and get a paycheck, and disabled veterans now will be assured that they and their families won’t need to worry about where their rent or mortgage will be paid, or where their next meal will come from.
Sigh. Well, Cennydd13, not sure that President Obama has EVER signed a budget. Hasn’t been a year, has been almost 4. And the reason we need to worry about the debt limit is that our irresponsible government has accrued $17 Trillion in debt at this point, with NO slowdown in sight. If you look at the interest service on our current debt, with record low interest rates, in fiscal 2013 the US government paid $415 Billion. Interest only. with record low rates, averaging around 2%. Consider what happens about the time the next president (whoever that might be) takes the oath of office. At that point our debt will be about $20 Trillion. If (and it is a pretty big if at this point) our economy has recovered, it is not impossible that rates will be at or near the average we have paid over the past couple of decades, or about 4.5%. Doing the math, that would make ‘interest only’ payments by our government around the Trillion Dollar mark, making interest on the national debt the largest single line item in the ‘continuing resolution’ (pessimistically assuming our idiot Senators/Congressman continue to be unable to actually do a budget). That’s assuming the recovery only pushes the interest rates up to average, and not to the levels we saw in the early 80’s. Consider what is going to happen when rates go ‘above’ average (remember average means some lower some higher) on our $20 Trillion debt (with NO indication it will stop there)? That interest payment will not be going to Medicare. Or Social Security, or bridge repair, or the military. Sorry, but anyone this is an IQ test. Anyone who cannot see this ‘handwriting on the wall’ cannot do basic math (which I expect is why our politicians seem unable to understand it). I, personally, am terrified, but being relatively old will probably not be around when the riots start.
It’s sad indeed that this happened, [i]but it didn’t have to happen, and it wouldn’t have happened, if Congress had done what we pay them to do![/i]. Now, this may sound improbable, but we have a midterm Congressional election coming in November of 2014, and we’ll have a chance to send a strong message to Washington that we demand that they do as they’re told, or their stay in town will be a very short one. The American voter is often portrayed as having a short memory, but this impasse was serious enough that I don’t think they’ll forget so soon. Not this time, I think…..I hope!
#4, Don R, I agree with that analysis; however, the Secretary of the Treasury has said that all payments are automated and he has no control which would allow him to set priorities on which checks actually get written in accordance with legal obligations. In effect he’s saying the government has no control over its own check writing. Sadly, this may actually be true.