The debt ceiling debate as of this afternoon: In January, House Republicans passed a budget for fiscal year 2012; Senate Democrats voted it down, and have now gone 817 days without voting on any plan of their own. House Republicans approved Cut, Cap and Balance last week; Senate Democrats said no; President Obama said he would veto the plan even if it passed. Speaker Boehner will release a plan today that sets up one vote to increase the debt ceiling this year and one next year, neither of which would include tax increases. Over the weekend, the President’s true goal was reiterated by Treasury Secretary Geithner, who said on Fox News Sunday that any deal must ”take the threat of default off the table through the next election.” The administration now has zero credibility when it makes any claim that Republicans are playing politics or are otherwise causing a delay in reaching a deal.
The history of debt ceiling increases speaks volumes about the motives of the White House in refusing to consider anything but an extension through the 2012 elections. The debt ceiling has been raised six times since 2007; three times in the 110th Congress and three times in the 111th Congress. On September 29, 2007, it was raised to $9,91 9,815 850; on July 30, 2008, it was raised to $10,615 800; on October 3, 2008, it was raised to $11,315 700; on February 17, 2009, it was raised to $12,104, 789; on December 28, 2009, it was raised to $12,394 290; and on February 12, 2010, it was raised to $14,294 1,900. The longest period of time is the most recent – from February 2010 to August 2011, or 17 months. The shortest was two months, from December 2009 to February 2010, and the average has been about eight months.
The facts disprove any claim from the White House that failing to extend the debt ceiling beyond the election would create market uncertainty or drastic economic consequences. The lack of a dramatic response from Wall Street today indicates that traders believe a deal will get done; no one cares about how long the debt ceiling is increased. And the length of time is not relevant to the warnings from the ratings agencies – their larger concern is whether there is a credible effort to reduce the debt; not when or for how long the debt ceiling is raised.
It would be helpful to the national discussion is more Americans were aware of the motivation of the players in the debt ceiling debate. Critics of the new Republican freshman (virtually all of whom misunderstood the message of last year’s elections) claim the members are not being “flexible,” which is a euphemism for stating that they must accept tax increases as part of any deal. Very few political analysts are calling out the President for his inflexibility on the length of the deal. The Republicans are standing up for their principles; the President is only standing up for his re-election.
Filed under: Pork
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