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U.S. Can't Afford Obama's No-Debt-Limit Credit Card
Fiscal Policy: The president tells business leaders he wants to do away with Congress when it comes to raising the country's legal debt limit and be able to do it all by himself.
aclgsIf hypocrisy were taxable, we should soon be able to balance the budget and repay the national debt.
It was on display again Wednesday, when President Obama told CEOs at the Business Roundtable he is no longer playing the debt ceiling "game" of agreeing to raise the limit in exchange for administration concessions on spending and taxes.
Calling the last debt battle in 2011 a "catastrophe" that led to the lowering of America's credit rating and a stalled economic recovery, the president, who has received six debt-ceiling increases as he added more debt than the first 42 presidents combined, told the nation's business leaders:
"If the Congress in any way suggests they are going to tie negotiations to the debt ceiling and take us to the brink of default once again as part of a budget negotiation. ... I will not play that game because we've got to break that habit before it starts."
The way he proposes to break that habit is by doing away with the debt ceiling altogether or at least by taking from Congress and giving the president the power to raise the nation's credit limit at will.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Treasury Department posted a statement advocating that Congress adopt a so-called "McConnell Provision," named after an idea once floated by the GOP Senate leader.
Under this proposal the debt ceiling would automatically increase, and Congress could only stop it with a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers.
"Extension of the McConnell Provision would lift the periodic threat of default from the U.S. economy and remove politics from future debt-limit debates, while preserving Congress' essential role in spending, revenue and borrowing decisions," argued Treasury spokeswoman Jenni LeCompte.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner also floated the idea on last Sunday's "Meet The Press" show on NBC.
Don Stewart, spokesman for Sen. McConnell, says Geithner et al. are misrepresenting the idea floated during the 2011 debt-ceiling debate, noting "the debt ceiling was raised last year only after the White House agreed to at least $2 trillion in cuts to Washington spending, and agreed to be bound by the timing and amount set by Congress not his own whim.
"The president wants to have the ability to raise the debt ceiling whenever he wants, for as much as he wants, with no responsibility or spending cuts attached."
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U.S. Can't Afford President Obama's No-Debt-Limit Credit Card - Investors.com