Secretary Geithner pushes elimination of the debt ceiling
November 28, 2012 at 9:39 am in News by Dustin Siggins 33 Comments
Last week, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner – the man who allegedly couldn’t figure out Turbo Tax when he was found to be avoiding his tax obligation – has given advice to Congress: eliminate the debt ceiling.
The practical implication of this advice is simple: get rid of a mechanism to prevent Congress from limiting how much debt the nation can have. Of course, there is always a limit, and our investors will let America know what it is, but Sec. Geithner’s advice means eliminating the national equivalent of a credit card maximum limit.
This should be no surprise to anyone. Sec. Geithner has helped President Obama rack up trillions in debt, all under the guise of economic improvement. Not only has all that debt not helped, there is strong evidence it’s actually hurt the economic recovery. Yet Sec. Geithner and Obama blissfully ignore the facts, and the spending continues.
To be fair, a debt ceiling increase has never been rejected by Congress. But it serves two public services: first, it makes the people aware of the debt level through media reports. Second, starting last year, it became a point for strong negotiation by the parties on how to reduce federal deficits and spending. Eliminating the debt ceiling would leave the public a little less aware of what is going on in Washington, and leave Washington a greater ability to spend irresponsibly without public oversight.
Eliminate the debt ceiling, Secretary Geithner? How about doing tax reform and spending cuts first, so we don’t need a debt ceiling increase, never mind elimination? Done the right way, we would never reach the debt ceiling, and thus never need to consider. Geithner’s silly suggestion.
He should be fired and Obama should be impeached.
We’re with you!
He and Obama need to go. They will certainly destroy this country.
Most should go and we can start over without career politicians!
No surprise here. The entire Democrat plan relies on continual borrowing in excess of revenue perpetually. This is insane.
NO MORE DEBT. NOT FOR ANY REASON.
Congress must grow up and act like mature adults. It’s time for them to take a stand and stop this insanity.
The sad fact is, we are in such a dire condition, cutting spending alone won’t fix the problem. Everyone will have to pay for rectifying the insanity of our government. That 47 percent that do not pay income taxes will have to start paying income taxes. And, every line item in the government has to be cut… without exception.
It is Congress’ job to decide how much to cut each line item. If they can’t do what we hire them to do, then shut the government down until they grow up and do thei job we hired them to do.
The first step to fiscal sanity is to generate a budget. We haven’t had a budget since Obama took office. That has to change.
We need new leadership in Congress.
Paul Ryan should be the next Speaker of the House.
Then, we’ll at least get a budget and some sanity back in our government.
Take the nations’ debt out of congress’ salaries. They spent it, make THEM pay for it.
If they had that much money, that’s exactly what I would suggest doing. But, just like the Democrats’ hippy pipedream plan to tax the so-called “rich”, they aren’t in possession of enough money to take from them and solve the problem.
I think about how to solve the problem in a way that decreases the likelihood of the problem occurring again. If EVERYONE had to pay for this insane government, then they would most likely vote differently. They would vote for a more sane government, as opposed to the obviously insane government we have today. If the way they voted cost them directly, they will vote differently than they vote now.
Everyone pays their fair share. I suggest a flat tax to get us out of this problem.
To move in any positive direction toward solving the problem of insanityin our government, we need to change the leadership in Congress. The current leadership has been abysmally weak.
Paul Ryan should be the next Speaker of the House.
the whole idea of putting people in different tax brackets baised on how much money you make is unconstitutional.
” The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;”
The word uniform means “: having always the same form, manner, or degree : not varying or variable
2: consistent in conduct or opinion
3: of the same form with others : conforming to one rule or mode ”
A flat tax would be constitutional. Where everyone pays the same percentage of their income is fair and yes that would mean that the wealthy top 2 percent would pay more taxes because they earn more. However thay would not pay a higher percent of taxes. That’s fair. I can’t pay millions in taxes because I don’t make millions of dollars. The top 2 percent can pay millions of dollars because they make millions of dollars. However the constant, uniform, standard is, they pay for example 10 percent, and I pay the same 10 percent. That’s fair and Constitutional. Now why can’t the Democrats and the GOP undersand that. Most of these guys are lawyers profession. I’m a law enforcement officer. We both had to study constitutional law, but the lawyers had to study it more than I did and I understand it. It so easy, the common citizen can read the Constitution in a half hour and understand it
Agree 100 percent. However, Congress can create an imbalance with exemptions, the result of which will no longer be a “flat” tax. We must maintain control of Congress to minimize this. That is why we need to select the next Speaker very carefully. Who is least likely to sell us out like Boehner did…
Boehner is still the same Boehner he was the past 2 years. He’s just putting on a show to gain support to remain Speaker. After he secures that position for another 2 years, he’ll go back to selling out to the Democrats again.
Everyone should remember he was the Speaker when the RINOs voted to give the president the obviously unconstitutional authority to identify any individual American citizen within the borders of the United States at his whim and order the standing Armed Forces of the United States to invade their privacy/home/whatever and seize them, and detain them without charges until it is the whim of the president to release them.
Boehner was also the Speaker when the RINOs voted to fund the procurement of 750 MILLION rounds of ammunition for the FBI, BATF and DHS. This is obviously intended to be used against the population of the United States.
If Boehner resumes as Speaker, we will continue to see these obviously dangerous peices of legislation coming out of the House.
Paul Ryan should be our next Speaker of the House.
“…uniform throughout the United States” means that the people in New York pay the same rates as those in California. I does not have anything to do with a progressive tax structure.
Geithner’s suggestion is right out of Saul Alinsky’s book:
“The first step in community organization is community disorganization. The disruption of the present organization is the first step toward community organization. Present arrangements must be disorganized if they are to be displace by new patterns…. All change means disorganization of the old and organization of the new.” p.116
“The end is what you want, the means is how you get it. Whenever we think about social change, the question of means and ends arises. The man of action views the issue of means and ends in pragmatic and strategic terms. He has no other problem; he thinks only of his actual resources and the possibilities of various choices of action. He asks of ends only whether they are achievable and worth the cost; of means, only whether they will work. … The real arena is corrupt and bloody.” p.24
“The means-and-ends moralists, constantly obsessed with the ethics of the means used by the Have-Nots against the Haves, should search themselves as to their real political position. In fact, they are passive — but real — allies of the Haves…. The most unethical of all means is the non-use of any means… The standards of judgment must be rooted in the whys and wherefores of life as it is lived, the world as it is, not our wished-for fantasy of the world as it should be….” pp.25-26
“The third rule of ethics of means and ends is that in war the end justifies almost any means….” p.29
“The seventh rule… is that generally success or failure is a mighty determinant of ethics….” p.34
“The tenth rule… is you do what you can with what you have and clothe it with moral garments…. It involves sifting the multiple factors which combine in creating the circumstances at any given time… Who, and how many will support the action?… If weapons are needed, then are appropriate d weapons available? Availability of means determines whether you will be underground or above ground; whether you will move quickly or slowly…” p.36
Obviously, increasing the public debt will destabilize our government. When the government runs out of money and there isn’t another government to put our government on welfare and pay for the lavish social programs the Democrats are instituting, those social programs will end and the result will be social disorder – RIOTS.
This will be the excuse for the government to seize control of everything, which is the desired end of the Democrats’ plan.
We need to stop this. We need new leadership in Congress.
Paul Ryan should be the next Speaker of the House.
Without any change in leadership, we should expect no change from the past 4 years.
Obviously, increasing the public debt will destabilize our government. When the government runs out of money and there isn’t another government to put our government on welfare and pay for the lavish social programs the Democrats are instituting, those social programs will end and the result will be social disorder – RIOTS.
This will be the excuse for the government to seize control of everything, which is the desired end of the Democrats’ plan.
We need to stop this. We need new leadership in Congress.
Paul Ryan should be the next Speaker of the House.
Without any change in leadership, we should expect no change from the past 4 years.
Geithner’s suggestion is right out of Saul Alinsky’s book:
“The first step in community organization is community disorganization. The disruption of the present organization is the first step toward community organization. Present arrangements must be disorganized if they are to be displace by new patterns…. All change means disorganization of the old and organization of the new.” p.116
“The end is what you want, the means is how you get it. Whenever we think about social change, the question of means and ends arises. The man of action views the issue of means and ends in pragmatic and strategic terms. He has no other problem; he thinks only of his actual resources and the possibilities of various choices of action. He asks of ends only whether they are achievable and worth the cost; of means, only whether they will work. … The real arena is corrupt and bloody.” p.24
“The means-and-ends moralists, constantly obsessed with the ethics of the means used by the Have-Nots against the Haves, should search themselves as to their real political position. In fact, they are passive — but real — allies of the Haves…. The most unethical of all means is the non-use of any means… The standards of judgment must be rooted in the whys and wherefores of life as it is lived, the world as it is, not our wished-for fantasy of the world as it should be….” pp.25-26
“The end is what you want, the means is how you get it. Whenever we think about social change, the question of means and ends arises. The man of action views the issue of means and ends in pragmatic and strategic terms. He has no other problem; he thinks only of his actual resources and the possibilities of various choices of action. He asks of ends only whether they are achievable and worth the cost; of means, only whether they will work. … The real arena is corrupt and bloody.” p.24
“The means-and-ends moralists, constantly obsessed with the ethics of the means used by the Have-Nots against the Haves, should search themselves as to their real political position. In fact, they are passive — but real — allies of the Haves…. The most unethical of all means is the non-use of any means… The standards of judgment must be rooted in the whys and wherefores of life as it is lived, the world as it is, not our wished-for fantasy of the world as it should be….” pp.25-26
“The means-and-ends moralists, constantly obsessed with the ethics of the means used by the Have-Nots against the Haves, should search themselves as to their real political position. In fact, they are passive — but real — allies of the Haves….
“The third rule of ethics of means and ends is that in war the end justifies almost any means….” p.29
“The seventh rule… is that generally success or failure is a mighty determinant of ethics….” p.34
“The tenth rule… is you do what you can with what you have and clothe it with moral garments…. It involves sifting the multiple factors which combine in creating the circumstances at any given time… Who, and how many will support the action?… If weapons are needed, then are appropriate d weapons available? Availability of means determines whether you will be underground or above ground; whether you will move quickly or slowly…” p.36
There is something in this statement this site doesn’t want posted here:
“T h e m e a n s-a n d-e n d s m o r a l i s t s, c o n s t a n t l y o b s e s s e d w i t h t h e e t h i c s o f t h e m e a n s u s e d b y t h e H a v e – N o t s a g a i n s t t h e H a v e s, s h o u l d s e a r c h t h e m s e l v e s a s t o t h e i r r e a l p o l i t i c a l p o s i t i o n. I n f a c t, t h e y a r e p a s s i v e — b u t r e a l — a l l i e s o f t h e H a v e s…. T h e m o s t u n e t h i c a l o f a l l m e a n s i s t h e n o n – u s e o f a n y m e a n s… T h e s t a n d a r d s o f j u d g m e n t m u s t b e r o o t e d i n t h e w h y s a n d w h e r e f o r e s o f l i f e a s i t i s l i v e d , t h e w o r l d a s i t i s , n o t o u r w i s h e d – f o r f a n t a s y o f t h e w o r l d a s i t s h o u l d b e….” pp.25-26
this is the same guy who, in an interview 2 wks ago stated that we should accept “infinite debt”. cool huh? this is just the progressives telling you how they are going to collapse our economy. watching the repubs jumping through hoops over the “fiscal cliff” issue is sad to see. who anymore represents us? hey, taxation without representation. historic re-run.
I think we should just let the fiscal cliff come. Whatever Congress does, they should not allow any more debt. We are at the practical limit now.
In truth, everyone will have to pay to get our insane government out of the catastrophe they created. And, additionally, every line item in government will have to be cut.
Fat chance of that happening with our current leadership in Congress.
We need a new Speaker of the House. Paul Ryan should be the next Speaker. At least we’ll get a budget. It’s insane to try to run a government without a budget.
I have e-mailed my Representative in congress and house mostly democrat but it is part of the process to let them know we are paying attention. Before you post one more time have you taken the time to let the Representative know what we want. We are preaching to the choir talking among ourselves
If you just watch the news just a little bit, the problem is obvious.
In 2013 the projected expenditure of the government is 3.8 trillion dollars.
When pressed for cuts in government spending, Harry Reid stated “we’ve already cut a billion dollars.”
I almost fell off the couch laughing when I heard that. That’s like me coming home and saying I cut my household expenditure next month by ten cents.
There just isn’t enough money to pay for the government the Democrats created. It’s an impossibility. Somebody needs to make Congress grow up.
If Congress can’t do its job, shut the government down until they grow up and do the job we hired them to do.
and, more people read what’s here than are posting. Don’t stop speaking your mind here. It is being read.
The “evil” rich can pay for Obama’s annual 3.7T in spending. Obama just needs to confiscate the net worth of all billionaires ($1.3T), all income above $250,000 ($1.4T) & all 2010 Fortune 500 profits ($391B). Obama gets his remaining $600B by: 1) Taking the net worth of the next 100 near billionaires 2) Collecting an amount equal to the total ad expenditure of the 45 Super Bowls, all pro sports salaries & all “Star Wars” revenue (inc. merchandise) since 1977 3) Eliminating all funding for Afghanistan, Iraq and foreign aid & 4) Seizing and selling the 15,000 homes in Beverly Hills. Still $12.5B short. Every remaining man, woman & child pays 40 bucks’ for the Obama Tax.
Admittedly, with the rich now totally gutted, next year will be tougher.
This is the situation we are in. There just isn’t enough money to pay for the Democrats’ government. It’s an impossibility. It’s a hippy pipedream from an opium den in the darkest corner of the Black Hole of Calcutta.
NO MORE DEBT. NOT FOR ANY REASON.
Don’t even negotiate with idiots that promote an impossible goal. They are idiots, or insane. No concession you give them will help us.
Make Congress grow up. We only have so much money to spend. Congress needs to decide on what that finite amount of money will be spent.
We need to change leadership in Congress. Paul Ryan needs to be the next Speaker of the House.
Pelosi said she would discuss raising taxes on the so-called “rich” and after an agreement is reached on that, she will begin talking about reducing government spending.
… right. Like anyone but an idiot believes that.
Get a plan for government first. We need a budget before any other discussions begin. Then, we’ll begin talking about revenue uptions.
Here’s Boehner’s chance to show some grit. If he can’t come through for us now, we don’t have a prayer. The Democrats’ plan is an impossibility.
DB – Is this your own personal message board? Please do everyone a favor and cool it.
Sorry. I continually received the notice “your post is awaiting moderation”, yet there was never any “moderation”, whatever that is, applied and the post shown. I experimented by breaking up the post into segments to try to find the objectionable word/phrase/whatever. I posted segments of the post in an attempt to identify paragraphs that contained improper wording.
What you see now is all the test posts.
Someting interesting I discovered was, mentioning the G_l_a_s_s S_t_e_a_g_a_l_l Act caused the post to be held for censorship.
Hey Billy Bob, Congress doesn’t have the authority nor the right to “abridge the freedom of speech” and neither do you. Besides I thought the Tea Party was about preserving our Constitutional freedoms. Among those freedoms is the freedom of speech and of the press and the right to peaceably assemble. DB writer chooses to practise all those freedoms here, so if your infavor of censership, then maybe you need to move to another country.
blablablablabla…all opinion, opposing sarcasms and no serious action and
GET ON THE PHONE at least guys!
Printing money inflates the dollar and makes saving money for retirement crazy. The real problem is the 16th Amendment which allows Government to collect taxes in any amount, by any means and the 17th Amendment which took away State’s power to defend State’s Rights. If you really want to eliminate something then eliminate these 2 Amendments. The only thing standing in Obama’s way to crash the economy is the Republican’s ability to limit the speed at which we incur more debt.
Blue: “so far so good said the man at the fiftieth floor after jumping off the hundredth floor”…
Blue, you are either very ignorant or very communist … come to think of it, that’s a redundant statement. I won’t even attempt to educate you – do your own research, and in the meantime, good luck with those second-grade exams.