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GOPROUD
Obama: Not Always a Fan of Upping Debt Ceiling
January 3, 2011 12:50 P.M.
By Katrina Trinko
While President Obamas economic advisor Austin Goolsbee argued Sunday that a refusal by the Senate to increase the governments debt ceiling (currently $14.3 trillion) would be catastrophic and a sign of insanity, thats not the position the president has held in the past.
Here are Obamas thoughts on the debt limit in 2006, when he voted against increasing the ceiling:
The fact that we are here today to debate raising Americas debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government cant pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Governments reckless fiscal policies. Increasing Americas debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that the buck stops here. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.
In 2007 and in 2008, when the Senate voted to increase the limit by $850 billion and $800 billion respectively, Obama did not bother to vote. (He did vote for TARP, which increased the debt limit by $700 billion.)
Obama: Not Always a Fan of Upping Debt Ceiling - By Katrina Trinko - The Corner - National Review Online