Quote:

---

The first limit was set in 1917 and set at $11.5 billion, according to the Center for a Responsible Federal Budget.
.....

How many times has the ceiling been raised? Since March 1962, the debt ceiling has been raised 74 times, according to the Congressional Research Service. Ten of those times have occurred since 2001. More at http://money.cnn.com/2011/01/03/news/economy/debt_ceiling_faqs/index.h
tm

---

Quote:

---

Sen. Dianne Feinstein said a deal to raise the debt ceiling is being held hostage by Republican politics, but that she can envision an agreement in the Senate to prevent default.

.....

Feinstein said Republicans are attempting to take a “meat ax” to social programs that affect millions of her constituents, including Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. Cuts to those programs, she said need to be tackled with care so “it hurts people the very least.”

Yet she added that it is Republicans who have walked away from the table, first from negotiations with Vice President Joe Biden and then from talks with Obama.

“This is the first time in 19 years I feel that something that can be done very simply is being held hostage for a very high-stakes game,” Feinstein said. more at http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/24/feinstein-sees-a-senat
e-debt-solution/#more-168563

---

Quote:

---

Sometimes you just have to see how infantile each party has become in Congress and the Senate on the debt ceiling. Several days ago Eric Cantor had a hissyfit and walked out on the debt talks between the two parties.

The fallacy that republicans are fiscally more responsible than democrats is just imaginary thinking.

Facts:

During the Bush Administration the debt ceiling was raised 19 times which added 4 trillion dollars of debt to America taxpayers and borrowed the money. At the time George Bush promised to be fiscally responsible and reduce US debt, which of course he accomplished the direct opposite.

The responsible GOP politicians that helped Bush are: Cantor, Boehner, McConnell and Kyl who are the same players playing an active role in holding the debt ceiling hostage, to cut Medicare for Americans. http://www.politicolnews.com/democrats-v-s-republican-on-the-debt-ceil
ing/

---

Quote:

---

A new video released by House Democrats quotes President Reagan's Sept. 26, 1987, radio address on the need to raise the debt ceiling: "This brinkmanship [bringing the Government to the edge of default before Congress faces its responsibility] threatens the holders of government bonds and those who rely on Social Security and veterans benefits. Interest rates would skyrocket, instability would occur in financial markets, and the Federal deficit would soar. The United States has a special responsibility to itself and the world to meet its obligations. It means we have a well-earned reputation for reliability and credibility -- two things that set us apart from much of the world." http://www.drudge.com/news/146393/reagan-raise-debt-ceiling straight, Ronnie Ray-Guns!

So the current battle is no more than political blackmail. Yes, absolutely something needs to be done; just raising it every time is stupid. But to use it as a ploy to cut social programs, and at the same time refuse any tax increases whatsoever, is pure insanity...and they may well get away with it. Right now Democrats are willing to see a three-to-one ratio in cuts and revenue, and the Republicans won't even accept THAT.

It's brinksmanship, it's hostage-taking, and it's about as childish as supposedly adult humans can get. China has a large stake in our debt, and even they are warning us to act like responsible adults:

Quote:

---

China has publicly joined calls for the U.S. to get its financial house in order.

“We hope that the U.S. government adopts responsible policies and measures to guarantee the interests of investors,” Hong Lei, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said Thursday, according to the New York Times. Lei was asked about a warning from Moody’s that the credit rating agency was prepared to review the U.S. AAA status.

China is a major U.S. creditor owns more than $1 trillion of U.S. government debt. A Chinese rating agency (Dagong Global Credit Rating Co.) also warned that it was considering a downgrade of the U.S. government credit rating. http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/07/china-to-us-raise-the-debt-ce
iling.html

---

A downgrading of our rating would affect every one of us in one way or another, and it could cause our country, still digging its way out of the massive hole Bush put us in, to go deeper in that hole than ever. This is "fiscal responsibility"? Bullshit; it's a game to them, with the rest of us held hostage.

Quote:

---

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, the business secretary called them "a few right-wing nutters in the American Congress".
.....

Mr Cable said it presented a bigger risk to the global markets than the continuing debt woes in the eurozone.

---