• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

The Debt Ceiling Is a Noble Idea

B

BDBoop

Banned
DP Veteran
Joined
Jun 17, 2010
Messages
9,800
Reaction score
2,719
Gender
Undisclosed
Political Leaning
Other
The Debt Ceiling Is a Noble Idea - Daniel Indiviglio - Business - The Atlantic

The Real Disgrace: The Political Process

And yet, that's exactly what's happening right now. The argument against the debt ceiling goes something like this: it's crazy that there's a debt ceiling, because it may cause the U.S. to default when there are plenty of investors who are perfectly happy to buy more debt from us. It makes the nation look like it's in as dire straits as other countries that actually cannot borrow more money because their creditworthiness is trashed.

So is the debt ceiling a horrible idea after all? Blaming the debt ceiling for the problems that Washington is experiencing right now is sort of like blaming a gun for murdering someone. The debt ceiling was merely an object through which the real problem manifested itself. The potential poison is not the debt ceiling, but the political process itself.

If the U.S. ends up defaulting later this year, it isn't because a debt ceiling is in place -- it's because Congress couldn't find a way to agree to a plan that would raise the ceiling while ensuring that the unsustainable path of U.S. borrowing eventually comes to an end. The problem is politics, not the law.

And what so many now consider poison may turn out to be an antidote. If the debt ceiling debate does lead to a massive long-term deficit dwarfing agreement, then the debt ceiling did what nothing else has managed to: it may force Republicans and Democrats to agree to spend at a rate close what they obtain in tax revenue. Washington actually moving towards a balanced budget would be a pretty miraculous achievement.
Click to expand...

Maybe it should just be killed. It makes more sense than all the sturm und drangst bull**** of the past several weeks. Then we can return to the republicans refusing to budge without the Sword of Damocles hanging over us.
 
Yes, doing away with the Debt Limit is a brilliant idea! Let's take any impediment to borrowing and just watch our fiscal responsibility soar! LOWERING the debt limit is just crazy talk... I mean, lowering the amount of borrowing? That's plain old insane!

:roll:
 
MrVicchio said:
Yes, doing away with the Debt Limit is a brilliant idea! Let's take any impediment to borrowing and just watch our fiscal responsibility soar! LOWERING the debt limit is just crazy talk... I mean, lowering the amount of borrowing? That's plain old insane!

:roll:
Click to expand...

Then I'm one of the looney's.. :) No not the Canadian dollar type either. :)

Tim-
 
It doesn't make much sense to me to have it really, since it's congress who has the power of the purse in the first place. If they want to spend they'll just vote to raise it anyway.
 
CarlF said:
It doesn't make much sense to me to have it really, since it's congress who has the power of the purse in the first place. If they want to spend they'll just vote to raise it anyway.
Click to expand...

If it was that easy it would have been done by now.
 
1Perry said:
If it was that easy it would have been done by now.
Click to expand...
It's only become more difficult very recently, they've raised it countless times in the past, how do you think we got 100 percent of the GDP in debt? If it wasn't there the republicans would still be demanding decreases in the deficit and if they refused a democratic plan we'd still default.
 
In my experience, imposing arbitrary limits on yourself is a waste of time -- like, I'll eat a cake now, and take a walk later.

If the American people want to control our deficit levels, we have to develop qualities of character that include the cultural and political habits that enable such a policy to succeed.

Trying to legislate around our vices with a "debt ceiling" is pointless and won't secure the future of our economy or country.
 
What happens if you lower the debt ceiling while already above it? Divide by zero, government blue screen of death?
 
Loved this bit.

Republican politicians may want a bad economy to hover over Obama's re-election campaign, but they probably don't want all of their assets, and their big donors' assets, to go down the ****ter. Force them to make the right choice, and pummel them if they don't.

Besides, the most likely explanation for this surreal debate is still that a deal's been worked out for some time, in secret, and our dear leaders will just **** with us until the last minute.
Click to expand...

Obama Nixes the 'Let's Just Call the Debt Ceiling Unconstitutional' Option
 
Actually, the conservative argument has much more common sense on the surface. If you knew a gambler who lost all their money and was telling you of his plan to get it all back by gambling some money he loaned from people he had to pay back, you'd tell him he was crazy. I think Jon Stewart had the best phrase for it. It is the Democratic version of the double-down except we didn't make the gambles that got us to the point in the first place. Still, the concept of GAMBLING- because we don't KNOW whether the economy will be fixed by this measure- so much money would reasonably raise a few hairs.

I'm not too certain anybody has any REAL specific idea if their proposed plan is going to work. Anybody can throw a speech together and give you a plan with a bunch of nice technical sounding words, but in the end, it's a leap of faith.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom