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+1 on what Jag said. Absolutely a deal will be made at the last minute "just in time". As much as I and many others want to see it held where it is (after all-what's the point of having a so-called ceiling in place if it just keeps getting raised indefinitely?) and let the chips fall where they may, I don't see that happening. The political stakes are just too high. That, and "kick the can" till the next cycle (and then kick it again) is about the only thing we are good at any more.
Trust me, none of us really wants to leave it where it is and see the chips fall where they may. This is not just some minor thing, a technicality- it would mean defaulting on debt, which would alter the course of this country as far as being a super power- countries would not want to buy US currency or bonds anymore, our dollar's value would plummet, the economy would tank much deeper than it did in this last recession. This is serious stuff, and it is frustrating to hear some of our Republican politicians talk about it as if it's not serious.
They are playing with fire. And it seems they not only have no clue to how serious this is, but they also seem not to be truly serious about debt reduction. If they were, why would they approve a military budget that is 20 BILLION dollars MORE than it was last year? If we are going to have to make painful cuts, we need to start with our bloated, wasteful military. Chop deeply into that funding, because it is doing absolutely no good for us here. Why are we building roads in Afghanistan while roads here at home crumble? Why are we building hospitals in Iraq when people here at home have no way to pay for medical care? Why are we even talking about taking away some medicare or social security benefits from people here who are already struggling to get by when billions and billions of dollars are wasted by blowing up 3rd world nations and building useless military bases all over the world? We need to close half or more of those bases, cut all of the fat off of this ridiculous military industrial complex. Until somebody proposes that I will refuse to believe any of our leaders care at all about truly reducing the deficit.
its time for the republicans to just flat out say "we arent going to increase the debt limit, lets start talking about how we will get by only spending what revenue comes in."
Yep, the funny thing is Bernanke and his thug buddy Geithner actually think they can control the market. So did Greece, Portugal, Ireland.................
I'm sure the political BS will continue to the last minute but they'll do a deal. That will ensure the inevitable will be as horrible and bloody as possible after the next election cycle.
They will kick the can down the road until we get to the end of the road; the problem is we can already see the end of the road a block or two ahead of us. It's gonna be ugly...
Well it seems we'll run out of money for social security by the year 2035..oops, I meant 2025..err...or sooner, maybe within the next decade, like 2018, or...next month? WTF!?
This has become too politicized. The president is now giving veiled threats, and no side is willing to give the same amount of concessions. Tax increases on the wealthy aren't even on the table, according to Boehner - this is ridiculous.
Deep down inside, part of me wants to see a partial default. I hope it smacks the sense of entitlement out of everyone - both sides of the political spectrum who don't want to sacrifice anything - those who live off of handouts, and those who hide their earnings by using tax loopholes and pushing for the extension of tax breaks.
I think that the rich want to see this go down badly and interest rates skyrocket. Think of all those companies sitting on piles of cash: Citi, BAC, Wells Fargo..
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