Debt Ceiling Hit, Can U.S. Divert Financial Crisis?

The debt ceiling crisis is real.  But I am stunned with how few of the newbies in Congress from the Tea Party are able to grasp the fundamentals of the debt crisis.  When this new batch came to Congress the political leadership tried to educate them about the debt ceiling matter that is now truly front and center.

In January I made known my views about the teabaggers in Congress, people I think who are filled with more anger than intellect.  They are now the ones who seem unable to grasp the importance of dealing with the debt ceiling.

What happened in 2010 was in many cases quite the opposite of the ideal situation.  A whole slew of very mediocre people who were angry got involved with electoral politics.  Many of them were elected.

Now they are trying to gain the insight and knowledge they should have amassed prior to making their candidacy official.  Lets be honest.  If one has not sensed the desire to know history and care about policy from at least college days should they be making decisions for the nation?

It should not surprise anyone with an 8th grade education that destroying the full faith and credit of the United States is no small matter.  So then how is it that many Americans want to see a debt crisis happen in this country.  Included in that sick mix are many members of Congress, all teabaggers mind you, who proudly sprout a big ‘R’ behind their name, and dare the nation not to default.  

Take stock of  those who harbor such ill for this country, and then ask yourself what is wrong with these people?  Do they not know better?  And if not, how can that be?

Forty-six percent of those surveyed in a Mar. 31-Apr. 4 Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll said they opposed raising the debt ceiling. The pollsters asked the question again after giving the two sides of the argument: Some say that if the ceiling isn’t raised, bills, benefits, government salaries, and interest won’t get paid. Others say raising the ceiling “will make it harder to get the government’s financial house in order,” increasing debt held by other countries and owed by future generations. After considering those two propositions, the public’s opposition to raising the debt ceiling increased, to 62 percent.

The U.S. government is expected to hit the $14.294 trillion debt ceiling Monday, setting in motion an uncertain, 11-week political scramble to avoid a default.

The Treasury Department plans to announce Monday it will stop issuing and reinvesting government securities in certain government pension plans, part of a series of steps designed to delay a default until Aug. 2.

The Treasury’s moves buy time for the White House and congressional leaders to reach a deficit-reduction agreement that could clear the way for enough lawmakers to vote to raise the amount of money Congress allows the nation to borrow.

Gene Sperling, director of the National Economic Council, said reaching the debt ceiling “should be a warning bell to the political system that it’s time to get serious about preserving our full faith and credit.” The Obama administration says a default would tip the U.S. back into a financial crisis.

It is time for the ideologues to move aside and let the adults in the Republican Party work with their counterparts in the Democratic Party so a fix can be presented and voted on.  And soon.

Default is not a term that America should ever become associated with.