What should Obama do if debt ceiling is not raised?

Some of these options might end up being contested if he does it, if so assume that happens. He lets the various interpretations of various portions of the constitution be settled in the Supreme Court if necessary.
(I need to decide if I’m going to take our money out of the market and put it in gold.)

# Pay interest on the bonds etc. cuts elsewhere; preserve US credit.
# Pay things like SS, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.; preserve people.
# Even % cuts across the board.
# Pay everything he thinks needs to be paid regardless of the debt ceiling.
# Ask all that voted against raising the debt ceiling to tell him what to not pay.
# Ask congress to pass a law that directs him on what to pay.
# Do nothing; wait for congress to do something when things are more obvious.

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I would suggest the following approach:

He eliminates all funding for any programs that he personally dislikes and/or that the Republicans are fond of. This will light a fire under their ass to raise the debt ceiling. Of course, this alone won't be anywhere close to sufficient to close the funding gap, so he simply ignores the debt ceiling and directs the Treasury to continue borrowing money to pay for everything else. There are contradictory laws on the books (one directing him not to borrow money and one directing him to spend various amounts on various agencies/entitlements), so it's impossible for him to obey all of them.

He lets the various interpretations of various portions of the constitution be settled in the Supreme Court if necessary.

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If we're taking that approach and assuming that he respects the debt ceiling...we'd need to get to a temporary 43% cut in spending. I would suggest that all non-essential government agencies close (that's about 20% of spending), all troops are garrisoned at their base until further notice and soldiers/contractors stop getting paid (another 15% of spending), and social security checks are reduced by 1/3 with IOUs to cover the remaining balance (another 8% or so). If this solution sounds draconian and unfair, it absolutely is. Which is why Congress should raise the debt ceiling, and raise it immediately.

resign and let an adult take over

Kandahar said:

I would suggest the following approach:

He eliminates all funding for any programs that he personally dislikes and/or that the Republicans are fond of. This will light a fire under their ass to raise the debt ceiling. Of course, this alone won't be anywhere close to sufficient to close the funding gap, so he simply ignores the debt ceiling and directs the Treasury to continue borrowing money to pay for everything else. There are contradictory laws on the books (one directing him not to borrow money and one directing him to spend various amounts on various agencies/entitlements), so it's impossible for him to obey all of them.

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Think that will get him reelected in 2012?

Μολὼν λαβέ;1059651691 said:

Think that will get him reelected in 2012?

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I have no idea.

Kandahar said:

I would suggest the following approach:

He eliminates all funding for any programs that he personally dislikes and/or that the Republicans are fond of. This will light a fire under their ass to raise the debt ceiling. Of course, this alone won't be anywhere close to sufficient to close the funding gap, so he simply ignores the debt ceiling and directs the Treasury to continue borrowing money to pay for everything else. There are contradictory laws on the books (one directing him not to borrow money and one directing him to spend various amounts on various agencies/entitlements), so it's impossible for him to obey all of them.


If we're taking that approach and assuming that he respects the debt ceiling...we'd need to get to a temporary 43% cut in spending. I would suggest that all non-essential government agencies close (that's about 20% of spending), all troops are garrisoned at their base until further notice and soldiers/contractors stop getting paid (another 15% of spending), and social security checks are reduced by 1/3 with IOUs to cover the remaining balance (another 8% or so). If this solution sounds draconian and unfair, it absolutely is. Which is why Congress should raise the debt ceiling, and raise it immediately.

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Your suggestion is in short #4 Pay everything he thinks needs to be paid regardless of the debt ceiling. But you didn't vote?

I am reasonably sure the Constitution require he pay all debts, and thats it. I think he should work with congress and cut spending till the debt ceiling is no longer a threat. cut every thing, military budgets, SSDI, SS, Medicare and Medicaid, Department of Social Services, Welfare, EBt, Education, Transportation, DOD, DOJ, etc. till they reach a budget that they can work with and will not raise the debt any further in fact start immediately reducing the Debt to Zero. Foreign aid should be the first to go. Humanitarian aid and the works.

I think he should pay interest on debt as 1st priority, SS as second priority and cut elsewhere... preferably all foreign aid, free government welfare , and any other creative ways you can cut the spending.

OhIsee.Then said:

Your suggestion is in short #4 Pay everything he thinks needs to be paid regardless of the debt ceiling. But you didn't vote?

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I voted now.

I see from a few posts that some are essentially suggesting that he change parties and become a Republican. An option I didn't think of. But he has had so much counseling on that and hasn't done it yet, so I don't think it's a possibility. So, pick one for Obama.

Immediate and drastic budget cuts across the board. Nothing is spared. (Essentially option 3) Don't just punish the republicans, because it's not just their faults if the debt ceiling isn't raised. It's everyone's fault.

Μολὼν λαβέ;1059651691 said:

Think that will get him reelected in 2012?

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no because he will be impeached.

we have enough coming in to cover interest on the debt, social security, medicare, and paying our active duty troops. seems to me that that stuff comes first, foremostly the debt.

Okay, if I'm in a situation where its unquestionable the ceiling isn't going to raise...

What I'd LIKE him to do....pay the debt, cut proportionally across the board.

What would be smart politically....pay the debt, and cut where needed making sure things that are important to Republicans get the largest cuts

If these charts are close to being accurate, I know which slices of the pie I would reduce or eliminate. I don't think it would be NASA.

Resign and let somebody with experience and responsibility take over.

Red Crow said:

Resign and let somebody with experience and responsibility take over.

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You mean Joe Biden? "

Stand up for Joe! He's a real stand up kinda guy!

Μολὼν λαβέ;1059652707 said:

If these charts are close to being accurate, I know which slices of the pie I would reduce or eliminate.

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The one I can see is somewhat accurate, though is of course slanted to what people want to show which is discretionary only rather than all spending which then shows that Medicare and Social Security 34.3% as opposed to 21.6% for the DOD and the War on Terror combined.

Add in Welfare, Medicaid, Unemployment, and the other mandatory entitlement programs that we have on the books and that number shoots up to 52.7%.

So its "accurate" but its also skewed to show the view point you want to show.

molten_dragon said:

Immediate and drastic budget cuts across the board. Nothing is spared. (Essentially option 3) Don't just punish the republicans, because it's not just their faults if the debt ceiling isn't raised. It's everyone's fault.

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No...this time it really is just the Republicans' fault.

cpwill said:

we have enough coming in to cover interest on the debt, social security, medicare, and paying our active duty troops. seems to me that that stuff comes first, foremostly the debt.

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This solution would require shutting down virtually ALL non-defense discretionary spending, including those services deemed essential (e.g. law enforcement, food inspections, prison guards) as well as other entitlement programs such as Medicaid. And it might STILL not be enough depending on how much interest rates rose and how much of our debt was not rolled over, in the wake of a quasi-default.

cpwill said:

no because he will be impeached.

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Impeachment would certainly be a good way to ensure his reelection. It's difficult for me to fathom anything that could help Obama more politically...he'd get to spend months telling the American people how he stood up to Congress to protect social security, Medicare, and soldiers' salaries, whereas the Republican leadership would inevitably be compared to Ken Starr and Newt Gingrich, having impeached (and ultimately acquitted) two Democratic presidents in a row.

Zyphlin said:

The one I can see is somewhat accurate, though is of course slanted to what people want to show which is discretionary only rather than all spending which then shows that Medicare and Social Security 34.3% as opposed to 21.6% for the DOD and the War on Terror combined.

Add in Welfare, Medicaid, Unemployment, and the other mandatory entitlement programs that we have on the books and that number shoots up to 52.7%.

So its "accurate" but its also skewed to show the view point you want to show.

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Accurate but skewed? Hmmm... That appears to be an inane and illogical statement.

Not really.

Lets take an analogy. I could say that Jason Kid is one of the top three greatest Three Point Shooter in NBA history based on the fact he's #3 all time in made three pointers. However, the fact I choose to use Three Pointers made instead of Three Pointers is because that information is skewed in such a way that it validates my argument. What makes Three Pointers made more important than Three Point Percentage? Nothing but opinion, and yet I focus only on the one that fits the argument I want to make because if I had brought up Three Pointer percentage I'd end up showing that Jason Kidd doesn't even fit in the top 30 let alone the top 3.

Essentially, I am picking and choosing the criteria in which I'm going to judge the information to reach my conclussion based on what criteria is best likely to give me backing FOR my predeterimined conclussion.

Your predispostion was on "CUT THE MILITARY". Entitlement programs by and large don't go into descritenary funding but the military does. As such, you choose a data criteria that is skewed in favor of the conclussion you want by choosing to go with that rather than total funding. This isn't unusual but is rather normal and both sides do it, just like when Republicans point to total spending. Its what people do, they look for stats and criteria and ways in which they can back up the conclussion they want. The wonderful thing about statistics is that generally there's always a way to look at the numbers to find a way for it to come out in that direction.

What should President Obama do? Nail the GOP to the cross - with very very dull nails and a very very hard cross unfinished and filled with splinters. And don't forget that crown of thorns either.

OhIsee.Then said:

Some of these options might end up being contested if he does it, if so assume that happens. He lets the various interpretations of various portions of the constitution be settled in the Supreme Court if necessary.
(I need to decide if I’m going to take our money out of the market and put it in gold.)

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We should pay off the debt,make every cut we can, enact a cap on taxes so that the government doesn't go oh hey look more money lets spend it on something, enact restrictions on what the federal can and can not fund so that tax payers are not funding useless programs and enact a paygo(with the exception to a national emergency like a major disease outbreak, weather related disaster and etc or if war has been declared on us either by declaration or attack) with a rainy day fund set up for major disasters and wars.