Comments on: Debt Ceiling Strategies

By: Jared Bernstein

Jared Bernstein — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 07:45:18 +0000

Good question–I added clarifying sentence in post.

By: Russ Abbott

Russ Abbott — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 07:34:09 +0000

You wrote, “then it’s a fight that cannot be avoided and it would be better to have it a year or two from now than in February.”

Why? It would be better to have it now and get it over with. Also, Obama is at his strongest now. The only reason I can imagine to put it off for two years is that Obama thinks that having it then will make him stronger then, that it will be a boost to his power and prestige. That may or may not be a valid political calculation. But even if it is, then he is guilty of using the debt ceiling for political purposes.

By: Bud Meyers

Bud Meyers — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 07:32:42 +0000

It seems that the GOP has found a crack in the wall, a chink in the armor, regarding Social Security in the New Deal with “Plan B” for the “fiscal cliff”. But Obama needs to stick it to the man, instead of sticking it to the poor, the disabled and the elderly.

http://bud-meyers.blogspot.com/2012/12/social-security-obama-needs-to-stick-it.html

By: readerOfTeaLeaves

readerOfTeaLeaves — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 07:14:52 +0000

Glad to see the President draw a line in the sand and clarify that the antics of August 2011 will not be repeated. No doubt there were people in the markets who made money on swaps against the dollar; however, allowing hostage-taking on the debt ceiling is deeply irresponsible as a policy.

I think this will come to haunt the GOP, and I interpret their current behavior as a symptom of their desperate, last-ditch clutching at the reins of government. The GOP is acting like a pack of traders, mistaking the halls of Congress for the pits of a commodities exchange. This is a foolish and probably mortal error on the part of the GOP.