GOP Has Few Cards To Play In Debt Ceiling Fight

Rehberg suggests President Obama has a stronger hand

Republicans still smarting from the fiscal cliff deal that raises taxes on high income earners shouldn't get their hopes up for the next fight with President Barack Obama. That's coming from a participant in the year-end standoff, former Rep. Denny Rehberg.

The MT Republican, who lost a Senate bid in 2012 and just left Congress, says Republicans have no leverage in the upcoming debt-ceiling debate, The Hill reports.

"If you don't raise the debt ceiling, the financial markets melt down, then who's mad at you? Well, every Republican out there who's in small business, who needs credit, who needs a sound banking system starts calling Republicans saying, 'Cave, cave, you've gotta give in, you've gotta cut a deal,'" Rehberg said. "If they become obstructionists, what power do they have? Well, shutting government down? No, because if we do that we lose our support with the public."

President Obama and the Democrats want a clean debt-ceiling increase, with a broader talk about taxes, entitlements and spending to follow. Republicans, however, want to marry spending cuts to the debt-ceiling hike, viewing that legislation as their best chance to hold the Democrats' feet to the fire and force significant reductions.

Via The Hill.

Do you agree with Rehberg’s analysis?

[Thunderchicken]

We're raising the debt limit. That's a given. But I've written my reps and will continue to pester them demanding responsible spending. The fiscal cliff deal disgusts me. As does the crap loaded into Sandy relief. I encourage everyone to bug the hell out of their reps too. We need to demand better from our public servants!

[Mogal]

Couldnt agree more!

[DARSB]

If you don't bitch to your elected representatives you give up the right to bitch about the government. I keep two Senators and one Congressman on speed dial.

[Thunderchicken]

@DARSB

I gave up on calls. I email them through a few different avenues.

[woodtick57]

@Thunderchicken

you folks should try envelopes of large, unmarked bills. remember, it's the thought that counts...

[martydotcom]

@DARSB How's the sauce progressing?

[harold_lloyd]

The debt ceiling thing is a sideshow. It has to be done, and it will be done.
But that doesn't mean that the budget should not be balanced.
Before this fiscal mess is solved, we will have raised taxes, cut spending, and agree on a bipartisan basis to continue on a path of fiscal responsibility until the debt is reduced to about a quarter of what it is now.
In order to do that, the extreme factions of both parties will have to be marginalized and then neutralized.

[armed_liberal]

The Republicans are finished as a party. The shrinking amount of rich white guys can't vote enough.

[harold_lloyd]

@armed_liberal That may seem correct in the short term, especially from the perspective of current events, but the game is in the early stages, and the outcome is not likely to be the demise of the party.
This has happened before, in the era of Goldwater.

[harold_lloyd]

@armed_liberal And speaking of goldwater, there is this -
By the 1980s, the increasing influence of the Christian right on the Republican Party so conflicted with Goldwater's libertarian views that he became a vocal opponent of the religious right on issues such as abortion, gay rights and the role of religion in public life. On the floor of the Senate he announced, "I am frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in 'A,''B,''C,' and 'D'.... I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their convictions to all Americans in the name of conservatism."
read the rest of it...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Goldwater

[Speedieg]

We are in a mess there is no doubt. Holding the country hostage will cost jobs, growth and tank our investments. Frankly my 401k is still recovering from the previous meltdowns and as I am unlikely to get social security I don't want to see that. Congress needs to do more than bicker and come up with a plan. I assume that congress has no problem borrowing money to pay their salaries, pensions and benefits.

[PoliticalSpice]

If they start any nonesense the administration could mobalize wall street and the business community to pressure repubs. If that doesn't work he can raise the ceiling using the 14th amendment and let the courts decide.

but the best approach politically is to let them hold this back, sit back and watch as they get voted out in 2014. I root for the tea party for just that reason.

[Belin]

The GOP does not have enough representation to win this fight. We'll raise our debt ceiling, further hurting our financial standing with the rest of the world. The past mistakes of letting jobs go over seas and NAFTA have just made this situation worse. We will not be considered a world super power by the time the next 4 years has passed. Financially or militarily. Right now Obama will get what he wants whether it is good for our country or not. He can not be vetoed because the senate democrats just do what ever he wants. Our system of checks and balances do no exist right now. We'll just have to wait out the next four years and see where we land on the flip side. Oh how I wish the Democrats would have voted for Hillary. But no, it was too exciting to have a partially black president. I give up for now. Nothing said or done by either party is going to fix this catastophy our country is right now. All those fund raisers for the victims in New Jersey and New York, where did that money go that our country had to put over a billion in aid? Where will that money go? We already know our country does not know how to handle disasters despite messing them up time and again. People still homeless and wondering the same thing!

[Mogal]

Lolwat?

[PoliticalSpice]

Re: Be careful what you wish for, or some day you may get it...

[Belin]

@PoliticalSpice
Meaning? Hillary? She will be 69 by then and really is not interested.

[PoliticalSpice]

@Belin Maybe, i don't care one way or the other, but 40 years of watching politics has taught me: four years equals a century in politics; commonsense does not apply; conventional wisdom is often wrong, and nothing is as it seems...

[Belin]

@PoliticalSpice
That's what's wrong with our goverment! There needs to be full disclosure, not deals behind locked doors! I'm sick and tired of the bipartisan bickering and the crap that comes with it! We are Americans and every person voted into office needs to remember we put them there to work for our best interest! That is not what has been happening for quite a while!

[Bobolinsky]

"President Obama and the Democrats want a clean debt-ceiling increase, with a broader talk about taxes, entitlements and spending to follow."

Lucy: Charlie Brown, I'll hold the football, and you come running up and kick it.

[Real4WheelDrv]

And then a savior appeared...

http://youtu.be/qI4NZDXpTTQ

[Bobolinsky]

@Real4WheelDrv-- LOL... I hadn't seen that before. It's a toss up if Peter or Homer is the better(read: funnier) cartoon stereotype of the workaday everyman's Freudian id.

[Real4WheelDrv]

@Bobolinsky The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, Futurama etc have all been guilty pleasures, while there are times that one could say Family Guy and American Dad degenerate into anti-Republican/conservative propaganda, they are all full of belly laughs. Personally I think they both fit, cause no matter what crazy stuff they get involved in, at the end of the day, they both love their families and start the day fresh.

[Bobolinsky]

@Real4WheelDrv-- Give em credit for taking jabs at liberals too but you're right. The order-of-magnitude is where the difference is. Maybe that's why I'm most partial to South Park. They may not like the religious right but they really don't like the nanny-state left.

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

[Fishbone345]

@Bobolinsky Matt & Trey give it equally. They are completely bipartisan in their comedy. ;)
You have no idea how bad I want them to take "The Book of Mormon" on the Touring Company route and come to SLC. My hope is somewhat deflated however, I imagine the powers that be in my state (read: the Mormons) might try and block it.

[jessejaymes]

This is the biggest bunch of crap I've ever heard. Let's recap shall we? Those of you that have an attention span of more than a drunk lying in an alley? The last time the debt limit was raised there was a ton of caterwauling about "cutting spending and getting the fiscal ducks lined up" by the GOP. The Fiscal cliff was created by the GOP and the Dems alike as a compromise to raise the debt. And in exchange the govt would go to work to find substantial spending cuts in govt and since everyone got caught snickering, belly laughing and rolling in the aisles laughing at the idea of government cutting spending, they said "no really, we mean it" and here's the proof. If we don't do it, then there is a fiscal cliff that will automatically kick in and do if for us.

So what happened? They turned their own bill into a crisis. NO WE CAN'T GO OFF THE CLIFF!!! HELL NO!!! IT'S CRAZY!! IT'S A DISASTER!!! The same bill THEY wrote and passed to ensure govt cuts in spending.

And now here we go again. Oh by the way? They tacked on about a trillion in pork barrel spending when they passed the bill to avert the fiscal cliff. By both parties. You people are idiots if you think either party has the slightest intention of being responsible to the Citizens of America that make under the amount of 10 million a year.

[Mogal]

Ironic, I thought the lack of prosecution for the Wall Streeters was the biggest load of crap ever...

[stepped_in_it]

"You people are idiots if you think either party has the slightest intention of being responsible to the Citizens of America that make under the amount of 10 million a year."
Here here!! Don't vote for the incumbent, demand term limits and no more benefits after leaving "public" service.

[woodtick57]

@stepped_in_it Well the termlimits are cuitting off your nose to spite your face kinda deal. Why get rid of any good reps you might get.

besides, if the only professionals in gov't are the military and intelligence committee people, man, that makes my tin foil hat itch just thinkin' about it...

[stepped_in_it]

@woodtick57 Same can be said about the president. I know America is afraid of a "king", but, with the branches of government that would not happen unless this "king" was trying to do away with these branches.
To "keep my tin foil hat" from itching, name some "life long" civil servants that have remained true to serving the American public and have not strayed off to full fill their own agenda? I know I'm asking a lot, but, out of 587 members (senate/congress/president/VP) this should be an easy task. Presently I can't think of any who "remained true to serving the American public " (recent Hurr. Sandy bill a prime example!)

[woodtick57]

@stepped_in_it We have had many in MN. Dave Durenburger was a great servant of his district. the Tea party one timer that took his seat was shown the door in a hurry as he WAS not serving the districts' best interest.

Mr. Kline Mn would also be in this category, thought not for so long.

i thought Dr. Ryan was all teh rage as per people serving the people?

Ted kennedy could have easily just sat back and drunk his life an money away, he actually served because he felt the need and desire to.

Zero toleranmce rules are for those with zero intelligence...

[Cheenoguy]

When either party starts talking about significant cuts in the defense budget I will believe that they care about the debt. Until then I will accept the uproar about the debt (as far as politicians are concerned) to just be partisan hackery trying to appear conservative.

[nomocrap]

I have to agree with cutting the defense budget. Unfortunately with the state of the US military and where they are deployed at this point in time there is no way to cut the defense budget without leaving our soldiers high and dry in unfriendly environments. The way to cut the budget is to totally withdraw from Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan and any other similar areas. Those people over there have been killing each other over religion for centuries. There is nothing we can do to stop that from happening. Once our soldiers are out of there bring them home then cut defense spending and keep them home until we are attacked then retaliate quickly and ruthlessly then bring them back home again. We have no business borrowing money to send to another country when our own country is broken. Take care of our own first then worry about the rest.

[Cheenoguy]

@nomocrap
Of course we would need to remove troops first. There is really no reason at this point to be endangering then in the first place.
I am confident that should we just go back to having a military solely for defense we won't have to use it often. Everytime nations interfere in the affairs of other nations it always bites them in the ass. Before the crusades Muslims, Jews, and Christians were all living peacefully in Jerusalem and the rest of the Middle East. Once they were over the peace slowly returned. There was more tension but violence slowed greatly. Since the discovery of oil Europe and America have been interfering in their affairs and supporting rebel militaries as they saw fit. Everyone of those rebels then turned against us. What have been the basic demands of the terrorists? Get out of the holy lands. I say we tell the horrible, evil despot in Saudi that he's on his own. We then tell Israel not to go starting any fights because if they start it they are on their own. We then tell the Arabs that if they start it we will assist Israel as necessary. We then tell every country with a nuke (and quit worrying about who should and shouldn't have them because we always support the wrong people) that if they use one so will we. At that point our boys will be safe and secure training on US soil for a long time.

[Jeff_Woehrle]

We are forgetting that America voted for irresponsible spending, borrowing and taxation. The debt will rise...significantly, as will (have) taxes and spending. That's just how it is when the takers outvote the contributors.

It's all part of the long, slow decline that happens with every democracy sooner or later. All Republicans can do at this point is slow the descent.

[woodtick57]

Once again, you are starting from the false premiose that people who vote democratic are more takers than those that vote republican, when in the real world it is split pretty evenly, isn't it?

[Jeff_Woehrle]

@woodtick57 If so, Obumble would not have won.

The desire of the electorate is clear: More spending. More borrowing. More taxes.

Okay. Here it comes.

[woodtick57]

@Jeff_Woehrle

sure he would have and did. the half of the takers that vote republican did so. don't you remember the vote count totals? it wasn't that long ago...

[nomocrap]

@woodtick57 Actually if you look at the areas most of the public assistance money is spent you will see that it goes to the inner cities. If you look at the total votes by precinct you will see that the inner cities carried Obama to victory. Even in states that always vote democrat if you look at the precinct results you will see that the rural areas voted republican in many precincts and the cities voted democrat. I don't believe in coincidence. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck I assume it is a duck not a dog. Those 2 statistics are enough proof to me that there is some truth to the assertion that the takers outvoted the contributors.

[MikeC]

The people are sick and tired of the Republicans using the debt limit as a bargaining chip. ost of us of tired of our economy being held hostage by the Tea Party branch of the Republican Party.The majority of our debt was caused by the Republicans' obsession with trying to defund our government. Yes, they are trying to defund our government by constantly demonizing taxes. Taxes are a necessary part of any government. The GOP red states have played every dirty card they havd including trying to secede from our nation. I have a suggestion instead of trying to secede how about you just LEAVE the good ole USA and find yourselves a small govenment, no taxation, theological country far, far away from us Americans!

[commonsense51]

Wow, are you lost or what? Do you understand the simple notion of debt? Spending more than you bring in? What, are you getting Government assistance or one of the 20% who call themselves Liberals. In four years Obama has run up debt twice as fast as Bush did in 8 years. He is an activist Socialist who will do everything in his power to grow our Government to a size not sustainable and then as in the last election will have a majority of Americans taking charity from tax payers which guarantees a Democrat will always get elected. It is truly sickening watching the Democrat party freely choose to bankrupt this nation all for the sake of getting elected. Are you one of the millions of Americans who have no shame and proudly run down to the social services to grab a free ride on the back of tax payers?

[NormalFlora]

@commonsense51 A wife walks into the living room where her husband's friends are watching the Superbowl. "Hey," she says to them, "This Superbowl party cost us $50 for the ribs,$40 for the burgers,$30 for the chips and dips, and $150 for all the booze. So pull out your wallets and chip in to pay for all this." "WHAAAAAAT????!!!!" Scream the men. "You tax-crazy socialist!!!!!"

[commonsense51]

@NormalFlora Maybe you have missed the last 40 years or are too young to know better. I have heard this same rhetoric from Democrats my entire life. Every time they raised taxes they said trust us we will cut spending and address the debt. THEY NEVER HAVE!!!!!! I for one am not brain dead to the point of swallowing that garbage again. Our liar and chief told the GOP last time that if they passed the debt limit, he would cut spending. HE DID NOT! He is absolutely the worst liar this nation has ever elected. No, I will not believe one word from any politician. They must make iron clad budget cuts in spending across the board.(that was what Mc'cain wanted to do but Obama supporters wanted their free Government subsidies). What don't you get about our Government? They are addicted to spending for sake of getting elected by the groups they give money to. Why are so many people like you ready to give these idiots more of our hard earned money? They will not use the money to cut the debt. They never have. The only answer I can see is that you are one of the millions running to the tax payers for charity to get free college, free housing subsidies, food stamps, etc. We are spending 600 billion a year on the interest from the 16 trillion debt and you bring up everyone chipping in to pay for super bowl food? There is not enough money in our nation to pay that debt with tax increases. WAKE UP! WE MUST CUT SPENDING and the GOP along with the tea party know this.

[nomocrap]

@NormalFlora Pretty close analogy but I think you missed it by a little. Try it this way. A guy and his friends decide to have a super bowl party. They all decide to eat before it starts to save a little money and to bring their own beer. Around half time the wife comes in from the store and says "Hey I just bought all of this food and beer and it cost $270 you all need to pull out your wallets and pay for it. Oh and by the way I saw my friend Sally at the store and she didn't have enough money to buy food and beer for her husband and friends to have a super bowl party so I bought her $270 in food and beer so you need to cover that also". The guys look at her and tell her she's lost it and there is no way they will pay for any of it so she pulls out a gun and forces each man to pay. As they pay she realizes that half of them quit school before graduating and work at Mcdonalds so they are broke. The other half went to college and after graduating started out at the bottom but worked their way up and now make a good salary so she takes half of their money and gives it to the first group. After the super bowl is over she realizes she didn't keep any to replace what she spent on food and beer and now doesn't have enough money to pay the power bill and mortgage so she goes to the bank and takes out a loan to pay her bills. She then realizes that the Daytona 500 is next week and does the same thing with the money she just borrowed and subsequently has to borrow more the next week. And the cycle continues.

[commonsense51]

@nomocrap I agree. People no longer live within their means because they see Government as their backstop. They live it up, buying nice cell phones, cars, vacations and when that rainy day comes, they run down to the nearest social service office to ride the back of all the tax payers who actually went without and saved money for that rainy day. These responsible tax payers who never ask for charity see this over and over and start asking, why am I killing myself just so irresponsible dead beats can use me. This is why all Socialist nations have high unemployment. People finally give up and start riding the Government. The final result is default.

[twinertia]

New revenue streams, folks! There's no other way around it. You can't cut the monster (only makes it crazier); you have to feed it SO MUCH of what it wants that it's eventually unable to finish the meal. Politicians aren't going to do it for you (let alone try); they're BORN CROOKS AND LIARS. The system's already set up for you to fix their problems, but YOU'VE got to do it. Collective business philanthropy is all that's left.

[twinertia]

Existing businesses SHOULD be helping set up internal support networks for their employees, but they won't (topples their power structures).

[twinertia]

And, as usual, both camps dig their entrenchments deeper (Obama's level-headed, Obama's a commie, Dems are this, regressives are that, etc.). Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'; schoolyard theatrics won't save the day.

[commonsense51]

Are so many Americans that totally stupid? WE ARE 16 TRILLION IN DEBT!!!!! If the people who voted for Obama can't understand simple math then they should stay home and let responsible people elect our politicians. If it were not for the Liberal partisan media supporting Obama every step of the way, Obama and the Democrats would be the ones labeled obstructionists. Can Democrats understand that to blame the GOP for not allowing our Government to keep spending money it does not have, you must also blame the Democrats for not allowing spending cuts that our nation disparately needs. Only a complete idiot would just blame the one side. But there lies the power of a corrupt partisan press. When our free press takes sides, our nation will go in one direction and will no longer have the checks and balances we have always lived by. It sickens me to see our Government run by people who want free handouts. It is truly the death of this great nation. People who elected Obama are traitors in my book.

[FollowTheMoney]

It's clear the interests of Americans aren't on the table.

[stepped_in_it]

Or even in the same "house" LOL

[Thegrif]

Obama- The Master of Disguise

No debt ceiling increase until there is a done signed deal on spending cuts.
So if the financial market crashes that is on Obama, guess he should have been at work, facilitating a real working deal, instead he was on a 20 million dollar vacation. Obama's plan, hold America hostage, via forcing Reps in between a rock and a hard place.
America is a very well disguised dictatorship.
You know who else was loved by his people, almost worshiped, and considered a saviour to his people?
Hitler.

[JustTheFacts]

The markets aren't going to crash! Who the hell comes up with this BS? I would think a government shutdown would be the best thing ever! Why? Lets see, no more bullshit spending and increasing debt by the government on the taxpayers behave of course. People that are parasites of the system would finally be cut off and everyone else would realize how little we need the federal government in our lives. Everyone still pays taxes yet this time it goes to paying off the debt these jerkoffs ran up rather than being pissed away or into some parasites pockets! The real businesses and hard working people with real jobs who actually produce a needed product have less of a burden on them because they no longer have to support a bunch of deadbeats and officials who claim to be acting in our best interest! Our currency would increase in value instead of being devalued because the parasites won't be fiscally responsible and continue to run us deeper in debt! Probably eliminate most of the bloodsuckers on Wall Street how much a living off of taking advantage of people and businesses for profit!

Yeah, I can see how we really don't want a government shutdown and the debt ceiling to be raised! The only people who don't want to see a shutdown are the parasites in this country .... probably afraid they might have to get a job in the "Real World" that everyone else lives in!

[PNWest]

One thing I notice is that just about the only time you hear any common sense out of a republican politician is after they retire or get voted out. Of course the dems hold the upper hand. The GOP can either attempt to crash the economy like they are threatening to do or put America first and work with the President and democrats. Guess which choice is more likely?

[Politicskid]

The Republicans wouldn't be putting today's America first by doing that, true, but they would be putting America in 2023 first. Who do you care about more, you or your children? If the answer is you, sure, support the Democrats, but if not, the the Republicans hold a far better fiscal future for this nation.

[PNWest]

@Politicskid Show me some evidence that the GOP does better for the economy please. The stock market performs better under Democratic Presidents, the country grew the middle class best between 1932 at the depth of the depression and 1980 a period of 48 years where we only had 1 conservative republican President (Nixon). Since Reagan we grew best under Clinton and Obama than we did under Reagan/Bush I and Bush the moron. So show me some hard evidence that the GOP does better.

[Politicskid]

@PNWest It's not a matter of Reagan Republicans versus Kennedy Democrats...it's Reagan Republicans versus Obama Democrats, who are the most left leftists in American history. It's different parties then their were a decade ago.

How about you take a good hard look at those unemployment figures over the last 45 years, instead of since Lincoln?

[PNWest]

@Politicskid Let me translate: "Oh Mr. PNWest I looked it up and it turns out that the stock market has done much better under Democratic Presidents than it does under republican ones. You were right - as usual. Oh by the way unemployment numbers are very high right now. Why is that?"

Well kid - the reason unemployment numbers are so bad is because the republicans blocked pretty much everything that Obama was trying to do since 2010 when they made their number 1 goal to make Obama a one term president. We saw how well that republican plan worked. Unemployment numbers now are about the same as they were when Obama first took office 7.8% give or take. They would be lower had congress worked with him instead of against him.

The republican record:
Tax companies that ship jobs overseas – BLOCKED
The Dream Act – BLOCKED
Political Ad disclosure Bill – BLOCKED 2x
Small Business Jobs Act – BLOCKED 2x
Anti- Rape Amendment – BLOCKED
Benefits for Homeless Veterans – BLOCKED
Affordable Healthcare for America – Voted 33x to Repeal
Healthcare for the 9/11 First Responders – BLOCKED
The Jobs Bill – BLOCKED
Wall Street Reform – BLOCKED
Oil Spill Liability – BLOCKED
Immigration Reform – BLOCKED
Fair Pay Act of 2009 – BLOCKED and DEFEATED
Unemployment Extension Bill – BLOCKED

All this while voting 33 times to repeal Obamacare. No wonder cockroaches have a higher approval rating than congress.

[Politicskid]

@PNWest All of those bills were filled with liberal rubbish, if you'd like to pick one for me to debate you on, go right ahead.

[marine1]

If we crash the economy now, that means we get started four years earlier to clean the mess up instead of prolonging an even bigger mess. It has to happen, the big question is when? Why screw up the tomorrows when toay cost less?

[Ashstop]

51% of the people who care enough to vote want bigger government and don't care how much it cost to get it, let the next generation worry about it is their thoughts, they have the power so yes, we will go deeper into debt in two months

[SmedleyButler]

Holding cards? LOL, the whole economy was built on a house of cards. The ONLY way i see to get out of this is to, audit the FED, put bankers in jail like Iceland, force them to have a debt jubilee. That, or accept the slavery for you, and your progeny.

[woodtick57]

the Iceland banks walked away from $8billion in debts to the people who had money in their banks....

is that what you suggest the Us banks should have done? what about the FDIC?

[SmedleyButler]

@woodtick57 What else is there to do, pay it off? We'll NEVER pay off that debt, not even the interest. FDIC? It's another house of cards. We're living in a ghost world if we think otherwise. We're living on worthless fiat currency, and just about all our assets are owned by foreign banks. Why can we get an audit of our gold reserves?
FDIC Broke and Selling Real Estate: How $13 Trillion in Assets is Protected by no Deposit Insurance Fund. FDIC Selling Properties to Replenish Fund and Collecting Early Fees.

http://www.mybudget360.com/fdic-broke-and-sel... .

[SmedleyButler]

@woodtick57 When Iceland audited their banks, they found debt added that wasn't theirs.

[woodtick57]

@SmedleyButler Huh? if we had bailed on the debt owed by the US banks, the FDIC would have had to cover it. how much would that have cost the US taxpayers?

You don't htink that for every dollar yu have in the bank, there is a sme dollar in the FDIC to back it up, do you?

[SmedleyButler]

@woodtick57 Who knows, or trusts the FDIC for that matter. Nobody can make heads or tail of anything today. We have all these Harvard economists predicting economic outcomes, and strategies on how to manipulate the economy into recovery. So far they've proven themselves either part of a failed self important entitled class, or criminals covering for their boss's crimes and screw ups.

[Dan_Tien]

Trusting Congress to fix the National Debt problem is like putting the Hole in the
Wall Gang in charge of Wells Fargo.

[Politicskid]

I think the GOP has a lot of leverage here. Younge people got Obama into office. It would be immoral for him not to make a plan that will reverse the course we're on toward financial ruin for younger people.

[paperdragons81]

The GOP fell for the old bait and switch the spendocrates win using crisis. Wasn't the idea to balance the buget, so why was there a 4 trillion dollar increase in spending. Grow a back bone GOP and let us go off the cliff. Its going to hurt in the short term, but it better than given Obama an unlimited credit card.