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Debt Ceiling 2014: GOP already painting themselves into a corner.

theeedude

theeedude

Lifer
http://www.politico.com/blogs/polit...forecast-battle-over-debt-ceiling-181901.html
The battle lines are being drawn are the same as for the last debt ceiling increase fight, on which the GOP got decisively whipped.
White House:
In back-to-back interviews Sunday, White House Senior Adviser Dan Pfeiffer and Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell took opposite positions on what Congress should do as the nation approaches the upcoming debt ceiling.

An issue that played a role in the government shutdown in October, Pfeiffer said on "Fox News Sunday" that President Barack Obama will maintain the same position when the debt ceiling is reached in upcoming weeks as he did then, which is he will not allow anything to be attached to raising the debt ceiling.

“Our position is the same as it was in October and the same as it’s been for more than a year, which is the American people shouldn't have to pay the Republican Congress a ransom for doing their most basic function, which is paying the bills," Pfeiffer said. "They have passed what is essentially a debt limit free of ideological riders the last two times. They should do it again and spare the country the drama and economic damage of repeating the movie no one wants to see from October.”
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GOP:
Appearing in his own Fox nterview after Pfeiffer's, the Kentucky senator called the president "irresponsible" and "unreasonable" for his position, saying Republicans would want to get something attached to the borrowing limit increase.

"Some of the most significant legislation passed in the last 50 years have been in conjunction with the debt ceiling," McConnell said. "I think for the president to ask for a clean debt ceiling when we have a debt the size of our economy is irresponsible. So we ought to discuss adding something to his request to raise the debt ceiling that does something about the debt or produces at least something positive for our country.”
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Again, the Republicans want to get "something" out of a debt ceiling fight. Of course now it's election year, and it's in the Republicans' political interest to put this behind them as quickly as possible, and in Obama's political interest for it to drag out so that the GOP is made to look like idiots who never learn, and move on from Obamacare issues. But the problem for Republicans is they can't act in their party's long term interest, because there are primaries coming up, they are under the gun. So again, they are painting themselves into a corner, except in an election year.
 
All they have to do is pass a debt limit increase without any riders or pork attached and be done with it. No fuss, no media attention, nothing. When asked why they chose to pass the increase with no fanfare or bickering the GOP can simply respond with "we don't feel a battle over the debt limit increase would be in the best interests of the American people at this time. We hope to continue pursuing legislation to bring responsible fiscal policy back to Washington and plan to focus our efforts there."

GOP looks good, debt limit goes through without risking harm to the country's credit rating, Democrats don't need to waste time butting heads with the GOP in a battle they'd end up winning anyway.
 
child of wonder said:
All they have to do is pass a debt limit increase without any riders or pork attached and be done with it. No fuss, no media attention, nothing. When asked why they chose to pass the increase with no fanfare or bickering the GOP can simply respond with "we don't feel a battle over the debt limit increase would be in the best interests of the American people at this time. We hope to continue pursuing legislation to bring responsible fiscal policy back to Washington and plan to focus our efforts there."

GOP looks good, debt limit goes through without risking harm to the country's credit rating, Democrats don't need to waste time butting heads with the GOP in a battle they'd end up winning anyway.
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The problem is that with midterms coming up GOP incumbents are still worried about getting primaried by more radical conservatives who would actually go over the brink. Never mind that these kind of politics is just more poison for the GOP's big picture future...they have elections to win.
 
The GOP needs to learn that you should not threaten to do things or do drastic things unless you are absolutely committed to them and are willing to accept possible consequences. If you want to play hardball, then do it, and don't cave in at any point, political consequences be damned. If you're not willing to do that, then just play along and find a different issue you want to fight for.
 
An issue that played a role in the government shutdown in October, Pfeiffer said on "Fox News Sunday" that President Barack Obama will maintain the same position when the debt ceiling is reached in upcoming weeks as he did then, which is he will not allow anything to be attached to raising the debt ceiling.
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He should make sure to mention that he is referring to Obama's recent position on the debt ceiling, not when he was a Senator.
 
Matt1970 said:
He should make sure to mention that he is referring to Obama's recent position on the debt ceiling, not when he was a Senator.
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Yep. Why not. It worked great the last few times it was mentioned during the debt ceiling debates. 🙂
 
The House should fund everything except Obamacare. Let Harry Reid have another hissy fit and shut down the government again and watch Obama make another ass out of himself by making life as hard as possible for veterans and park visitors. Funny shit! 🙂
 
Oh I really hope the GOP tries their whole Ted Cruz strategy again. Last time they dropped 10 points in the polls. Sadly I don't think they're that stupid.
 
TheSiege said:
Why wasn't this stuff addressed in the budget? Why should the debt ceiling be contingent on cuts?
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It should be but as compuwiz above would like, hold the debt servicing hostage like a child in order to get what you want and when you don't throw a tantrum.
 
To me, and this just might be me as a responsible American, but the debt ceiling is a no brainer. It should ALWAYS be raised, if we don't want to raise it, than approve a budget that will make it that way. GOP or DEMs this is what should be done. /congress
 
The entire concept of a debt ceiling is absurd. It gets increased almost every year, it will continue to be increased every year for the foreseeable future. Just dump the entire idea and spend spend spend. The money will never be paid back, or it will be repaid with paper so inflated as to be worthless, so why worry about it? Unless it's just a dog and pony show to make bond holders feel comfortable, then it has some value as a tool to lure in more suckers.
 
Greenman said:
The entire concept of a debt ceiling is absurd. It gets increased almost every year, it will continue to be increased every year for the foreseeable future. Just dump the entire idea and spend spend spend. The money will never be paid back, or it will be repaid with paper so inflated as to be worthless, so why worry about it? Unless it's just a dog and pony show to make bond holders feel comfortable, then it has some value as a tool to lure in more suckers.
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You know, you could be right. Just continue to borrow and spend. By the time it all comes down around our collective ears, I'll probably be dead. Why should I care.....someone else can carry the burden of trying to repay America's debt. That's the attitude to have right now, right?
 
compuwiz1 said:
You know, you could be right. Just continue to borrow and spend. By the time it all comes down around our collective ears, I'll probably be dead. Why should I care.....someone else can carry the burden of trying to repay America's debt. That's the attitude to have right now, right?
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It's been happening for 50 years. This isn't something new.

The budget is used to fund or defund programs, not the debt ceiling.
 
compuwiz1 said:
You know, you could be right. Just continue to borrow and spend. By the time it all comes down around our collective ears, I'll probably be dead. Why should I care.....someone else can carry the burden of trying to repay America's debt. That's the attitude to have right now, right?
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Since 1940 the US apparently has had 12 years with a govt. surplus. Every other year the govt. has posted deficit. It's nothing new.

Interestingly enough, the President under who the debt ceiling was raised more than any other was Reagan (18 times). No other president has ever broken 10. Under Obama it was 6 times in his first term and what, twice so far in the second term?
 
Victorian Gray said:
Since 1940 the US apparently has had 12 years with a govt. surplus. Every other year the govt. has posted deficit. It's nothing new.

Interestingly enough, the President under who the debt ceiling was raised more than any other was Reagan (18 times). No other president has ever broken 10. Under Obama it was 6 times in his first term and what, twice so far in the second term?
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you sure
 
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TreVader said:
Oh I really hope the GOP tries their whole Ted Cruz strategy again. Last time they dropped 10 points in the polls. Sadly I don't think they're that stupid.
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It's stupid for the party, but a Republican politician has every reason to vote against the debt ceiling increase, because he has to get through the primary first, and Republican primary voters are the stupid kind that thinks a default is a solution to our long term fiscal issues.
 
senseamp said:
It's stupid for the party, but a Republican politician has every reason to vote against the debt ceiling increase, because he has to get through the primary first, and Republican primary voters are the stupid kind that thinks a default is a solution to our long term fiscal issues.
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No matter what you think, there would have been no default. There was plenty of tax revenue to pay our bills, without raising the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling continues to be raised to pay for the ever increasing entitlements and for all these pork projects.
 
compuwiz1 said:
No matter what you think, there would have been no default. There was plenty of tax revenue to pay our bills, without raising the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling continues to be raised to pay for the ever increasing entitlements and for all these pork projects.
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No matter what you think the money was spent congress passed the budget or continuing CR. The debt limit is just how we cover the expenses already incurred.
 
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