CNS
Geithner: It’s time to eliminate the debt ceiling
“Well, this is something only Congress can solve,” Geithner said. “Congress put it on itself. We’ve had 100 years of experience with it, and I think only once–last summer–did people decide to use it to threaten default on the American credit for the first time in history as a tool for political advantage. And that’s not a tenable strategy.”
Hunt then asked: “Is now the time to eliminate it?”
“It would have been time a long time ago to eliminate it,” Geithner said. “The sooner the better.”
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We so so F’d.
let it burn? hell, they’re bringing the gasoline!
Yakko77 on November 19, 2012 at 4:23 PM
He’s cynic of the week.
And the ultimate scorched earth strategist.
The sad thing is most people don’t have his parachute…
CorporatePiggy on November 19, 2012 at 4:26 PM
Of course. It’s such a drag to actually have a limit on the amount of debt you can accrue, and be accountable for your spending choices. Why bother? /
changer1701 on November 19, 2012 at 4:26 PM
Can I tell my credit card company that I don’t need a credit limit?
kurtzz3 on November 19, 2012 at 4:28 PM
That’s why he’s a pretty ugly cynic.
He’s not stupid in the slightest. He knows what he is saying and doesn’t shoot his mouth off like some of his less gifted colleagues.
He’s secure in his position and signing a financial death warrant in principle.
CorporatePiggy on November 19, 2012 at 4:29 PM
They are trying to crash the currency, then it gets real ugly. Like biblically ugly.
tom daschle concerned on November 19, 2012 at 4:29 PM
Story about a friend as he told it: after major surgery, he was hooked up to a morphine drip. He could push a button to get extra, but it was on a timer to limit how much he could get. Still, he figured out the exact timing to maximize the dose and nearly ODed.
Seems somehow relevant.
theperfecteconomist on November 19, 2012 at 4:31 PM
Only if you can print money or legally put a gun to someone’s head to pay for it.
RadClown on November 19, 2012 at 4:32 PM
…Says the tax dodger.
BigGator5 on November 19, 2012 at 4:33 PM
When Congress can just raise it whenever we get close to it, what’s the point of having it? It’s not like it is an actual ceiling or stops us from borrowing when it just gets raised to allow more borrowing.
The ONLY benefit it has is to force Congress to bicker about the issue in front of the public prior to them once again raising the ceiling.
gravityman on November 19, 2012 at 4:43 PM
Will at least one Rep have the cajones to call Geithner an ‘ignorant motherf^#&er’ to his face????
phreshone on November 19, 2012 at 4:54 PM
Fixed. You see, there’s the difference between left and right. The left wants to spend more, the right wants to balance the books.
milemarker2020 on November 19, 2012 at 5:05 PM
Actually, it’s way past time to eliminate TurboTimmy.
platypus on November 19, 2012 at 5:10 PM
Man, one day, some day, I totally aspire to achieve the level of incompetence that our political masters display – and to be unreasonably well-compensated for it, too!
Jeddite on November 19, 2012 at 5:28 PM
(Corrected quote)
landlines on November 19, 2012 at 6:21 PM
BETTER IDEA:
Give each Senator and each Representative control over one 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper, and one Billion dollars in budget authority script. Senators and Representatives can trade paper and script…but only with another legislator within their legislative body (House or Senate). All laws must be written in 10pt or larger type, and they can use both sides of their sheet.
When all of the paper is filled up, somebody has to erase some of their paper (thus repealing a law) to make room for a new law.
When all of the script is gone, there is no more spending.
This would solve both our budget problem and create the possibility that an ordinary citizen could read and know the law of the land.
landlines on November 19, 2012 at 6:32 PM