Within the next few days, our government is going to run out of money. I will give you a moment to frantically run around and panic.OK welcome back... hopefully you didn't smash your monitor or really do something you will regret later.
So now that we have calmed down, lets examine the debt ceiling and discuss some possible solutions to this problem.
The Debt Ceiling, Explained: Planet Money
Debt Ceiling: Battle Heats Up
Treasury to tap Pensions to help fund government
Debt Ceiling
So is the debt ceiling something we should really be worrying about? What would happen if the government does default on its loans? How would you go about fixing this potentially devastating problem. Discuss below.
96 comments:
Kaitlyn H.
I think we should be worrying about the debt ceiling because as of today, the debt ceiling must be raised or else the US government will be over its $14.243 trillion that it currently owes. The US government relies on borrowing funds in order to function because of the fact that expenses far exceed revenues at this point, so if the debt ceiling is not raised soon, the government will not be able to borrow any more funds, and it will have to shut down. If the US government does default on its loans, the entire global economy would crash because the world reserve currency is the dollar, and nearly all trading occurs within the value of the dollar, so inflation would rise greatly. The value of the dollar would also drop extremely fast, and due to this the government would be unable to pay off its debts, unless they printed more money, but doing this only lowers the value of the dollar even more. To fix this problem quickly, I would raise the debt ceiling, so that the government wouldn’t have to all of sudden stop spending, but not raise it by much, so the government will still cut back on its spending.
The debt ceiling is definitely something that the U.S. government needs to address as soon as possible. The debt ceiling, a cap which was set by Congress on the amount that the government can borrow, is currently set at $14.3 trillion, and expected to rise above it very shortly. In order for the U.S. economy to run normally, the government needs to borrow funds. If the debt ceiling is exceeded, the U.S. will default on its loans, something that has never happened in history. The result of this would affect the entire global economy, causing a downward spiral. As of now, the government is faced with two choices: raising the debt ceiling, or cutting spending / increasing taxes by approximately $738 billion. This would affect many government programs, including Social Security and Medicare. The government definitely needs to raise the debt ceiling; by doing so, they are buying themselves more time to discuss future alternatives to the problem, and can plan future adjustments in tax raises and program cuts in order to balance the budget.
The debt ceiling is definitely something that we as a nation should be worrying about, the debt ceiling is currently at $14.294 trillion. The national debt increases every day, and if we continue on this trend and just keep on raising the debt ceiling, our government will never be able to pay off its loans. If the government was to default on its loans, it would result in worldwide economic chaos and confusion. The United States is highly involved in the world economy because U.S. treasury bonds are located in many around the world. To deal with this problem the government has a few decisions. First they can vote to raise the debt ceiling once again, which has been the trend for the past decade. This essentially means that there would be an increase in the amount of money that the government can legally borrow, and this is decided upon by Congress. An alternative to this scenario would be for the federal government to balance the budget; cutting their spending to reduce the national debt. To balance the budget however, would require major spending cuts in areas such as defense.
Arnavi V.
I think we need to worry about the debt ceiling especially today because today is the day we hit the debt ceiling. Since there has never been a time when we have hit the ceiling, we really don’t know what to expect. Exceeding this ceiling means that the government can’t borrow any more money from the Treasury to make up for the money they have been spending. Treasury loses the authority to give money to the money when the debt ceiling is reached. This becomes the big issue because when the ceiling is reached, the government has to come face to face with its debts. When the government does default on its loans, the economy will fall apart and the world markets will crash too. Even the effort to resolve the issue will have a negative effect on the domestic and international markets. I would fix the potential devastating problem by increasing the debt ceiling so that the expenditures doesn’t automatically stop for the government and they should work on cutting their spending so that we don’t fall into the same situation again.
The debt ceiling is definitely something that we should be worrying about, because if the national deficit reaches it, our country will, essentially, be unable to borrow money and will face a financial crisis. Reading the articles, I have come to understand that the debt ceiling is an efficient tool that theoretically helps set limits on the national deficit as well as provides an “alarm” to the country when the debt approaches the noted limit, which is currently set at $14.3 trillion. The way I see it, the debt ceiling will need to be increased in order to stop a worldwide financial breakdown. This is because of the fact that the United States economy is one which plays a key role the economy of the entire world. Like the big businesses which received enormous bailouts during the recent recession, the United States is also “too big to fail.” If the government does default on its debts, it would drag the world economy down along with it because most countries hold U.S. securities, which would become worthless, and rely on it for economic transactions. To go about fixing this problem I would most likely raise the debt ceiling by about a trillion dollars as well as implement policies to raise the age of receiving entitlements such as Social Security to 68, and lower discretionary spending. This will help pay for some of the debt and help prevent the nation from defaulting.
I would say that the debt ceiling is worth worrying over, as it is a clear indicator that our economy is not improving well. Everyone knows the difficulty with poverty in this nation that has been present for over five years. The fact that the debt increases every day indicates that the government is spending more than it makes daily and has to borrow daily too. In the recent recession the government has spent ridiculous amounts of money to try to stimulate the economy, with little success. This leads to inflation and with unemployment still quite high, some stagflation as well. Congress gives itself an arbitrary maximum they can spend, as they assess that with this amount the economy should improve without high rates of inflation. Yet, they can arbitrarily raise this amount whenever they see fit, and they have whenever the limit has come close to being met. If the government does not raise the limit once again and default on the money numerous government corporations will shut down. This will lead to more unemployment and decreased morale, as well as a potential crash in the market for bonds and stocks. The other option is to raise taxes or cut spending almost impossible amounts. My suggestion, based on the articles, would be to raise the ceiling again (as there really is no other choice) and once again concentrate on cutting spending as much as possible. I would suggest beginning to downsize programs that would usually be removed if the government defaulted, like social security. A slow move to a more balanced budget is probably the safest course of action.
The debt ceiling is an issue that is highly important to not only the US economy, but also the worldwide economy. With the US budget deficit nearing the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, it is critical that the government makes a decision on whether or not to raise the ceiling. If they make the decision to keep the debt ceiling as it is, the government will no longer be able to borrow funds which is one of the key tools in monetary policy. Losing this ability will mean that the government has to balance it's budget by greatly decreasing government spending and greatly raising taxes. This will cause higher unemployment and economic chaos. I think that the government should raise the debt ceiling, so that they don't default on their loans. Once they have done that, they should start to try and reduce the budget deficit instead of allowing it to continually rise.
Tatianna M
I think that we should be worrying about the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling was created to control the amount government spent and 10 times since its enactment in 1917 it had to be raised. Really, this means that government continues to go over the limit and just excuse itself by adding to the debt ceiling. If the government defaults on its loans people are assuming that it is going to lead into this economic chaos and may lead into a double dip recession. Inflation would rise, the value of the dollar would drop, and it would take a toll on the world markets. But, because it has never happened no one really knows what would happen for sure. Some believe that the Obama Administration is exaggerating and that in reality it wouldn't be too catastrophic. To fix this problem, I would raise the debt ceiling by a very minimal amount just to get through a year or so and force the government to create some new methods to balancing their budget or else it will default and whatever happens happens.
Brian C.
The debt ceiling is undoubtedly a potential threat to the United States and global economies. Although the debt ceiling has been raised ten times within the past decade, it is crucial that the U.S. takes necessary steps to prevent defaulting its loans and government shutdown. If the government does default its loans, there will be a period of national and global economic downfall. U.S. bonds/securites will be rendered useless and other countries will cut transactions with the United States. However, since the U.S. is such a large participant in the global economy, many other countries will see their economies begin to decline. One possibility of this occuring is that all countries will begin to adapt to the global economic crisis and will slowly but surely recover after the dramatic global economic downfall since the world cannot stay at this low economic standstill for too long. I believe that the debt ceiling should be raised as it was in the past decade, but with many cuts in federal spending. This will give the U.S. government more time to control its debt due to the increased time it will take to approach a new, raised price ceiling. Government-funded programs should be the first to experience cuts. Since programs such as Social Security and Medicare are extremely expensive, spending cuts should start here. I do not believe that defense and public education should recieve any spending cuts at this moment. Defense and public education spending indirectly influences the economy, where defense spending creates new jobs and public education spending will increase the future work force. However, taxes should not be raised due to an already high tax rate. Spending cuts should be made before any other government action upon raising the debt ceiling.
The debt ceiling is definitely something that the United States government should be worrying about. The debt ceiling is currently set at $14.3 trillion, and the national debt will soon surpass that number. This means that the government is spending too much money and the budget needs to be fixed. Although changes do need to be made to the budget at some point, the debt ceiling should still be raised once again. If the debt ceiling is not raised and the government has to default on its debts, the economy of the United States and the world will be sent into a downward spiral. A worldwide economic downfall is certainly something that everyone would like to avoid. A better plan would be to raise the debt ceiling by a small amount while the government makes gradual changes to the budget to make it more balanced so the economy can withstand the adjustments. This would preserve the stability of the economy around the world, and at the same time improve our country’s debt and how we will deal with it in the future.
Vanessa D
The debt ceiling is the legal limit on the amount the government can borrow. Considering the government will soon hit the current debt ceiling, which is at 14.3 trillion , I believe the debt ceiling is definitely something we should be worrying about. The day the debt ceiling is fully reached and gone over, the government will be unable to pay all of its bills. The economy is unable to function normally without borrowing funds. If the US economy surpasses the debt ceiling, the government will default on its loans. I believe the government should raise the debt ceiling, as it has 74 times in the past. In order for this to be accomplished, people must vote for the debt ceiling to be raised and congress must approve. This would lead to an increased amount that the government can borrow.
Brian R.
I believe that the debt ceiling is something to be very worried about. If we were having this discussion a month, a year, or a decade ago (which we should have been), then I would say that this is not as big a problem as it seems. Since, however, we are once again reaching our debt ceiling and the idea of our government defaulting on its loans and such, everyone is now up in arms. The government has previously been acting childishly in two ways: by not recognizing the actual severity of another debt crisis, and by neglecting to do anything about the rapidly increasing debt. Instead of compromising on less government spending and more taxes to help clear up our debt, the politicians recently agreed to decrease taxes for certain groups of people while maintaining a decent amount of government spending; therefore, many politicians have acted one-dimensionally by simply trying to clear up our economic recession. If the government were to default on its loans, there would not be terrible effects; however, it would have negative implications for the U.S. economy. Although it would solve our problems in the short run, in the long run this act will cause other nations around the world to have decreased faith in the American dollar and in our government bonds (this will obviously hurt our economy). I suggest that instead of creating all sorts of crazy solutions we take a simple approach. I believe that we should temporarily raise the debt ceiling for the government to allow them to continue their spending for the meantime, but in a sense forcing them to make amends by working toward a better and more balanced budget. The temporary raising of the debt ceiling will prevent any tremendous hardships on our economy and when we work out our serious deficit issues in the very near future, Congress can enact legislation to lower the debt ceiling and return it back to historically safe levels (despite the changing times and uncertainty/volatility of todays economy).
James K.
I believe that while we can all agree the debt ceiling is a major issue, how to deal with the problem is a different story. We could simply raise the debt ceiling, and begin borrowing from retirement funds from federal workers. This would be a more temporal solution, but it would give the government more time to devise a more concrete way to solve the issue. Others believe that the ceiling should be kept where it is, but the government should decrease its spending. Republicans believe the government should reduce spending but are against any rise in taxes because they will be detrimental to economic activity and job growth. I believe that a more radical solution is in order. The ceiling should stay where it is, and a mixture of reductions in government spending and higher taxes should be implemented. While many people may disagree with this approach and it would probably never be passed by congress, we need more decisive action. The United States can’t just keep putting off this ludicrous amount of debt until it eventually blows up in our faces. It is time to do something about it, and while that may mean sacrifices on everybody’s part, this is the first step towards getting America’s debt under control.
Alexandra Tammaro
I think the debt ceiling is something that the United States should definitely be worrying about. If the debt ceiling is not raised the government will basically shut down, which will have various negative effects on not just the United States, but the world economy. Going beyond the debt cleaning also means that the government is unable to borrow from the treasury. Additionally, if enough people become aware that the government is shutting down due to the debt ceiling they may choose not to invest in government bonds, or attempt to withdraw the money that they already have with the United States. This causes greater problems because if people are not putting any money into the government bonds the United States has less money to use. I Strongly suggest that the debt ceiling is raised as soon as possible in order to prevent chaos and disorder within the nation. Additionally, I think it would be favorable for the government to cut government spending in order to help attempt to balance the budget and be sure that the U.S is never in this situation again.
Ryan M.
I think it's definitely a problem we should be worrying about considering it's not 2 years or 2 months away, it's happening right now. Unfortunately, I can't think of any other way to help the current situation other than rising the current debt ceiling. The government can not let the debt go over the ceiling, or else the U.S. government will be forced to default on its loans. If this happens, and the government has to deal with its debt by itself, without taking out loans, two things may happen. One, all hell will break loose economically, and the U.S. economy will crazy, along with most other nations who are intensely involved in the U.S. economy. Two, the economy doesn't crash, but government spending decreases dramatically, increasing unemployment, and taxes increase dramatically, also increasing unemployment. There is really no up side to this...
Tyler R
i think that we should worry about the us debt ceiling. i feel as if it should defiantly be raised because otherwise the government will eventually not have sufficient funds. i think that the debt ceiling should be increased because there is no other choice since our economy would be in a downfall and also it will give the government more time to figure out a solution for when this problem occurs again.
Greg M.
I truely believe that this debt ceiling is something the United States should be worried about. The government has been borrowing money non-stop and this time it has finally come back to haunt them. The government is really in a loss-loss-loss situation right now. According to the articles, the government only has a few options. Those options are cutting government spending, increasing taxes, or just increasing the ceiling debt once again. Whatever option the government decides to chose the public will not be happy. The government may even need to borrow from a retiree package which technically gives the money right back to the package. If the government defaults on its loans, it would hurt our economy (especially in the long run), and hurt our nation's economies due to our economy being one of the strongest and because of how much trust other economys have in us. I believe in a mix of both the Democratic and Republican look by raising the debt ceiling (right now) and coming up with an alternate bill. The bill would talk about slowing down the spending and borrowing process but not all togehter and not all at once.
This whole situation is a really unfortunate. It's like living in an apartment that is on fire from the ground up(in really, really slow motion); you lived on floor one, but theres that fire there, so you move on and live on floor two for a while. By the time the fire reaches it, you make your residence at floor 3. This is all fine and great until you reach the ceiling of your apartment building (pun intended, boom goes the dynamite). This is effectively what has happened to the United States, but worry about how we got into this mess isn't going to solve it; however, it was able to extend the length of my post.
I think that this has to be dealt with now. Maybe not in it's entirety, but at least a big chunk of it. Any way you slice it it is gonna be real ugly, but you figure it might be conducive to economic growth if the 14+ trillion dollar debt stops growing - not even reduced, but stopped from growing. This is a dire situation, so I say that we've gotta raise the price ceiling a little bit but set that as the [actual, unraisable] limit. It doesn't mean doomsday immediately, but with any luck it will be able to spur the government to be able to do some real damage and take out a chunk of the debt growth.
I think that we don't need to really panic today about reaching the debt ceiling (even though I do believe it is a very important issue), because as the articles mention, there are many ways to postpone a government shutdown or crisis that many economists fear. However, as John Boehner said, this issue is a moment of opportunity to be proactive in solving this problem in the long run, because everyone is focused on the issue now, making it a good time to act. The articles all basically agree that if the government does default on its loans, it would be defaulting on some of its obligations, which could send the economy into a recession, and create worldwide economic chaos. As a solution to this problem, I would take measures to postpone a crisis, which would include borrowing from federal pension to buy some time for congress to discuss how much to raise the debt ceiling. Then, I believe that congress should indeed raise the debt ceiling to avoid "economic chaos", but only raise it a little bit so that this issue continues to stay in the government's mind. Then, I would have congress gradually balance the budget over a few years, so that the economy and taxpayers aren't faced with a spontaneous shock that would severely cripple the economy. A gradual approach to this would still not be ideal, but eventually someone is going to have to actually deal with the problem instead of postponing it and leaving it for the next presidential administration to handle.
John S.
I think that the debt ceiling is something to be extremely concerned with. If the national deficit does reach it,the US turn into a finacial crisis and become unable to borrow money. The debt ceiling is a tool that helps set limits on the national deficit, which helps keep the national government in check. I believe to fix the temporary problem the government needs to raise the debt ceiling to avoid a worldwide financial disaster. Like GM and AIG in 2008, the US is too big and powerful to fail. It would have an effect on therest of the world. Although, just raising the limit will not solve the problem. The government needs to make some serious spending cuts in order to lessen the deficit.
Shawn D.
I believe that the debt ceiling is something we should be concerned about, although it is not the most pressing issue our country has to deal with at this time it is undoubtedly extremely important. The way i see it there are 2 possible solutions, which are to either cut spending and raise taxes or to raise the ceiling. However I do not believe that in these difficult economic times it would be responsible on the government's part to raise taxes as many american families are already struggling to make end's meet. In the long run an increase in taxes or a decrease in spending may overall hurt the economy and lead to further unemployment and debt. So that leaves only one option, which although not an ideal solution, is the only one we have, to raise the debt ceiling once again.
I think that the debt ceiling is deffinitely something we should be worrying about. It seems like the only logical option is to increase the debt ceiling yet again. The only way to prevent increasing the ceiling is to make big cuts in spending and big increases in taxes. However, the government can't really do that because the economy is still struggling, and those actions would probably lead to higher unemployment which would further hurt the economy. An even worse scenerio would be for the government to default on its loans, not only because it could possibly lead us back into a recession, but it could also hurt countries around the globe who have investments in the U.S. To fix this, I would keep increasing the debt ceiling until the economy has undergone a strong enough recovery where that the unemployment rate is somewhat close to full employment. Then, I would say the government should start to make significant cuts in spending and make minor increases in taxes.
In all honesty, I do not think that the debt ceiling is something that is of immediate concern. Upon reaching the limit, I am sure that the Treasury will take the same route it has 72 times in the past 50 years, and 10 times in the past decades: raise the debt ceiling. On the other hand, this is eventually something that will have to be seriously looked at. The debt ceiling is set to help the government to monitor their own spending and given that we have adjusted it so many times in recent history it is safe to say that we have not been doing a good job of sticking to these policies. However, I also feel as if the Treasury does know what they’re doing and is confident in their own actions. So while it’s not an immediate problem, the government has to stop ignoring the situation by raising the debt ceiling. If the government has to default on its loans it would be the first time they would have to do so in American history which would take our economy back decades and greatly depreciate the dollar. I would vote for the government to balance the budget by cutting their spending through cutting things such as military and scientific endeavours. By maintaining a “healthy” debt we can hopefully slow down the rate at which we have to increase the debt ceiling and prevent us from ever having to default on our loans.
Ryan Schneider
In all honesty, I do not think that the debt ceiling is something that is of immediate concern. Upon reaching the limit, I am sure that the Treasury will take the same route it has 72 times in the past 50 years, and 10 times in the past decades: raise the debt ceiling. On the other hand, this is eventually something that will have to be seriously looked at. The debt ceiling is set to help the government to monitor their own spending and given that we have adjusted it so many times in recent history it is safe to say that we have not been doing a good job of sticking to these policies. However, I also feel as if the Treasury does know what they’re doing and is confident in their own actions. So while it’s not an immediate problem, the government has to stop ignoring the situation by raising the debt ceiling. If the government has to default on its loans it would be the first time they would have to do so in American history which would take our economy back decades and greatly depreciate the dollar. I would vote for the government to balance the budget by cutting their spending through cutting things such as military and scientific endeavours. By maintaining a “healthy” debt we can hopefully slow down the rate at which we have to increase the debt ceiling and prevent us from ever having to default on our loans.
Patrick H
The debt ceiling is something that we as US citizens should definitely be concerned about. This is the case because once the limit is reached, the US government will no longer be able to borrow money and be unable to fund everyday operations and pay back loans. In order to get out of debt once the ceiling is reached, the US would either have to cut spending and raise taxes or default on its loans. Both options are potentially crippling, as the former option would send our economy into a deep recession and the latter would not only bring down hurt our economy, but also the entire worlds. To avoid all this, however, the ceiling will probably simply be raised. Since 1962, the debt ceiling has been raised 74 times. While this will serve as a stopgap in the short-term, we are going to have to pay back the debt at some time or another. While I do believe that we should raise the limit for now, we really need to stop running away from the problem and start making more strides to pay some of the debt back.
Peter R.
The debt ceiling should be regarded as an issue of utmost importance. At 14.24 trillion dollars, it is more than 90% of our nation's GDP. This excessive debt is extremely detrimental to our long-term interests, and yet we continue to ignore it. Should the US go into default, it will create a massive crisis in the global financial market. The United States dollar not only harbors the world’s largest economy, but is also the foundation of world trade. The dollar is the most popular reserve currency in the world, and the one used most often in foreign transactions. Many countries invested great portions of their capital in US securities. If all this is lost, interest rates will skyrocket, as the US dollar loses its reputation as a steady currency to hold. However, we can take steps to mitigate this pressing issue today. America has a grave concern on our own soil, and it is to our best interest to tell Congress to stop procrastinating and address it as quickly as possible.
Chris M.
I don't think that we will have to particularly worry about hitting our debt ceiling. Though naturally defaulting on loans amounting to $14.3 trillion is hardly an ideal situation, the fact of the matter is that our creditors would not - or would be foolish - to attempt to "call" this default considering the widespread ramifications this would have for the global economy. The fact of the matter is that, considering the extreme size and influence of the economy of the United States, it is in no one's interest to recognize an American default, as it would only bring global malaise. However, this is no reason to ignore our severe debt problem, I simply intend to say that reaching the debt ceiling and defaulting on some loans is not the harbinger of destruction that some make it out to be. In reality, an aggressive combination of tax hikes and spending cuts need to be enacted to combat the out of control fiscal situation on Capitol Hill. Though fears that such a plan would create a "double-dip" recession are valid, this would only be in the short-run, and it is easier to deal with $14.3 trillion of debt as opposed to $143 trillion of debt. Nonetheless, American citizens and legislators should consider the intense unrest occurring in Euro-zone nations such as Greece and Portugal over the austerity measures needed to combat extreme public debt - the fact that the road ahead will not be easy to follow must be accepted.
The Debt ceiling is a useless tool as it is unwise for all parties to halt its progress. Although the Republicans have valid points in that the constant expansion of the deficit is ludicrous, this issue is not the forum for the development of that view as forcing the government into a tailspin and possibly ruining the world economy by voiding all treasury securities is not good a perpetuating positive publicity. Boehner has valid points, but in all to all, this change in the spending habits cannot be abrupt and must be gradual to steadily ease the country onto sustainable means of spending.
Honestly I think this is a no-brainer. How could you not raise the debt ceiling? Should the government lose its ability to borrow money in order to fund its spending, there will be major consequences. Neither solution to hitting the cap is positive. Either we essentially destroy our economy and the citizens' ability to make money through spending cuts and tax increases, or we lose the faith of the world market after we default on some of our payments. The latter possibility affects not only our own country, but the global economy. In my opinion, the debt ceiling's only use is to give rise to a discussion every time we have to deal with this pestering issue. There is no other reason for its existence. It exists only to be changed which makes its one and only job worthless. In addition, the idea of any sort of price or debt ceiling can only slow down or stop the growth of an economy. I suggest to raise the ceiling by enough hat we do not have to deal this problem for a long time.
^^ that was Mike L
Eric G
The debt ceiling is a serious concern to the American people and government. The potential to default on all loans would be catastrophic to the economy, the main buyer (government) would remove itself. This would mess with prices and stocks everywhere in all businesses which pass through America's borders, resulting in less trade and a general mess with currency. To add to this pile of apocolypse, the government bond ratings, currently at AAA, would plummet, resulting in the United States' government becomming a volitile investment. With this volitility, nobody would buy bonds, resulting in the federal government getting no money, and accelerating the crisis. We need to act RIGHT NOW, whether it is ceasing spending to pay off debt, or raising the debt ceiling. I believe that cutting spending to aviod this critical colapse is needed regardless of the economic consiquences. We as a nation need to stop running deficits and start paying off the people we owe. When we aren't at the debt ceiling, we can spend money, what a concept...
Eric G
The debt ceiling is a serious concern to the American people and government. The potential to default on all loans would be catastrophic to the economy, the main buyer (government) would remove itself. This would mess with prices and stocks everywhere in all businesses which pass through America's borders, resulting in less trade and a general mess with currency. To add to this pile of apocolypse, the government bond ratings, currently at AAA, would plummet, resulting in the United States' government becomming a volitile investment. With this volitility, nobody would buy bonds, resulting in the federal government getting no money, and accelerating the crisis. We need to act RIGHT NOW, whether it is ceasing spending to pay off debt, or raising the debt ceiling. I believe that cutting spending to aviod this critical colapse is needed regardless of the economic consiquences. We as a nation need to stop running deficits and start paying off the people we owe. When we aren't at the debt ceiling, we can spend money, what a concept...
To all those who responded in raising the debt ceiling, this is madness! How can we even say we run a free market economy when the biggest company, the government, cant even keep it's own spending together? Capitalism is about the loss and profit, if the government sees that an investment is bogus, they should NOT invest. Profit and loss, simple terms for anyone. If the government isn't getting it's returns, STOP INVESTING! It is spring time anyway, a new fiscal year and a good time to trim bad investments and repay some debt. Also, when has rasing the debt ceiling in recent times helped out? That is right, never, we hit the ceiling again in a few years. Now is the time to make a stand, stop the spending, repay the loans, save the government.
The debt ceiling is clearly a concern especially now as a world leader and it is something that we as a nation need to start doing something about. Raising it will only prolong the problem even further so I believe that to actually fix the issue we need to draft legislation that will either lower or keep at the same level the debt ceiling. With the way things are currently going, we are not going to be able to run an effective government as it is and plunging ourselves further into debt. Another potential fix to this issue is raising taxes because taxes are essentially the government’s income and with the proper proportion of cutting back on spending and increasing taxes could potentially fix this problem down the road.
Mark S.
The debt ceiling is a major issue and should be addressed by the government before we hit the 14.3 trillion dollar limit. Many people seem to feel that all we need to do is raise the ceiling and that will solve all of our problems. However, I think we need to worry less about raising the ceiling and more about how we plan to pay off this debt. There must be a different solution because raising the ceiling is just a temporary fix. I know that if we don't raise the ceiling that the government may default on it's loans, which could cause serious damage to not only our economy, but that of the entire world. However, we don't know that for sure, because it has never happened before. We have raised the debt ceiling 74 times and we just keep digging ourselves deeper and deeper into a pit of debt. I realize the government has to borrow money in order to fund it's sepnding, but what happens when we have to pay it all back? We can't just keep raising the limit forever! Eventually, we will need some sort of program to pay back debt, and in my opinion, this should happen sooner rather than later. It would take some major cut backs in spending and increasing in taxes, but there is really no other permanent solution.
Also...this does not look good to me: http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?s[1][id]=GFDEBTN
Sam G.
I believe the debt ceiling is something we should be very worried about because the government only has two clear cut options and both options present major repercussions. The government can either chose to cut spending or raise taxes by as much as $738 billion, or to default on its loans. The idea of raising taxes to the public in this currently poor economy, would decrease consumer confidence, and bury the US further into its economic woes. If the government defaults on its loans, the US faces a major chance at sinking back into a recession and the whole world market economy would worsen due to its reliance on the US. I believe the most reasonable solution to fixing this problem is to raise the debt ceiling. However, raising the debt ceiling during this current economy wouldn’t be the same as raising it in the past because the US has almost reached its debt ceiling for the first time. With the US being so close to reaching the debt ceiling, raising it may present more problems than when it was raised in the past, but I still think it’s the only possibility the US has in order to improve the economy.
I agree with certain comments made by both Eric C and Chris M. The US debt situation is not as serious as many believe it to be since it has occured 10 times in the last decade alone. It is also not a problem as long as the US does not choose to completely default on its debt...that would be apocolyptic at least for us here in the States. I also agree with the point they both make that the road ahead will be a bumpy one. With belligerant congressmen in our flawed two party political system, pressure from the press and the public, and the challanges of this particular economic problem it will be very hard to reach a consensus on an acceptable plan of attack.
That was Brian R.
Vanessa D.
I agree with Alex Tammaro’s post because I believe that the debt ceiling should be and is a major concern to the current US economy. Without the raise in the debt ceiling, the government will shut down and the US economy will be devastated. I agree with Alex in that once the debt ceiling has been exceeded, government will be unable to borrow and people will choose not to make investments in government bonds. This decrease in government bonds will cause great disorder and many problems because the government will have less money to use. If the debt ceiling is raised, the economy will continue to have revenue coming in that can be used to fund the government. Also, Alex states that if the government cuts spending in order to balance the budget, this can help to further prevent future repeats of the current US situation. However, it could also lead to a government shut down as well, and that is why I believe raising the debt ceiling is the most efficient action for government.
Aaron R.
I entirely agree with Andrew R. that we should take a gradual approach to fixing our debt problems while postponing the issue as long as possible by raising the debt ceiling. As many people who I agree with have mentioned, I don't think there really is any other choice but to raise the debt ceiling, because taking any immediate actions would be catastrophic to the economy. This is also why I disagree with Eric G., because he believes that we must act immediately, which I think would catapult us immediately into economic chaos instead of allowing us to gradually fix the problem and spread the blow to the economy over several years.
Tatianna M.
I completely agree with Andrew R. because I think the best bet is to actually do what Andrew said. Raise the debt ceiling because we dont really have a chance, but then cut down some programs to focus on cutting government spending to avoid hitting the debt ceiling once again in the future.
I agree with Greg.M that official legislation is needed to balance the budget. Numerous times in the past, our economy has reached the debt ceiling and Congress has raised it without blinking twice. The ceiling is there for a reason; it is to keep our spending and borrowing from reaching dangerous amounts. When we ignore it, we ignore it at our own risk. Making an official law that requires the government to begin to balance its budget would be ideal, but this seems difficult with the partisan nature of our present government. Eventually, something will have to give.
I agree with what Arnavi said when she mentioned that we really don't know what outcome to expect becuase we, as a nation, have never actually hit the debt ceiling. It is scary to think that our government may not be able to cope easily with this unfarmiliar situation.
Just out of curiosity when was the last time the U.S. ran under budget? The only thing that makes me nervous is the unwillingness to fix the problems. It seems like every politician shy's away from raising taxes and although I do believe there is a lot of spending that could be cut- I still think a slight raise in certain taxes is a necessary evil. It's just hard for politicians to raise them because generally the public hates them for doing so. In my opinion it's slightly frustrating that tea party members say they'll refuse to up the debt cap while at the same time most republicans are refusing to raise taxes. In all honesty and as uneconomically backed up as this sounds, these situations have the tendency to work themselves out (just like the governments past inability to create a budget in April). I think this in due time will not be anything to worry about- but first we have to be willing to act on it. I think in the short run the correct path would to be to raise the ceiling because it gives us more time to work out a better long term plan to actually get rid of the debt.
I agree with Saif, when considering raising the cap or not, we not only have to consider ourselves and the people in our country but the countries around the world. If the U.S. were to default on these loans- it would be not just a national economic crisis but a world wide one as well. We also have to consider the ramifications of defaulting in terms of the power we have and how our currency is used as the reserve issue and what not. It doesn't make no sense to just let ourselves default- it would probably be incredibly detrimental to our society and it would likely be the first step towards losing our economic dominance to China.
I agree with Mark when he says that people think everything will be alright if we just raise the debt ceiling. Although it may seem to alleviate problems at the time being, it makes things much worse for the future, since the government would have to pay off additional debt. People should be educated about what the debt ceiling actually is; the government needs to figure out something to do, and fast.
Sam g.
I agree with Eric C's response with how the United States should deal with the problem of the debt ceiling. Raising the debt ceiling by a little will allow the US to have some more time to combat its debt before it defaults on it's loans and sends the global economy into a tailspin. In addition, I agree with Eric's point that a large chunk of the debt has to be dealt with. The United States is going to have to raise its taxes and make necessary cuts in order to decrease the accumulation of debt.
I agree with Eric G.’s idea that we as a people need to take the debt ceiling seriously and act on it immediately so some extent. I too believe that this economic problem we are facing shouldn’t be dealt with after months of debating but, instead, “right now” as he stated. I do, however, disagree with the idea that the changes we make right now must completely fix the problem—changes such as imposing a giant cut in spending or a heavy tax. While we should address the growing debt ceiling quickly, our policy to fix it should be “gradual” as Andrew R. stated. What I believe is that instead of having different parties debating on whether the debt ceiling should be raised by a huge sum or not, they should compromise and address the problem quickly so that it doesn’t get out of hand.
I agree with Aaron R. that the debt ceiling isn't something we need to panic on today because there are measures that can be taken to postpone the government defaulting to its debts. We need a increase the debt ceiling because there is no other option. It needs to be a gradual approach because a sudden shock will destroy the US and global economy. Even if the problem will be solved temporarily by postponing it, we will have to eventually deal with this problem.
Teddy Schneider
I think that the debt ceiling issue is one that needs to be handled swiftly and efficiently, before the government comes crashing down from not being able to spend money. As much as raising the limit may just extend the problem for a slightly longer time, it may give the government time to fix the issue at hand. To begin to default on programs such as Social Security would take away from those who rely on this flow of cash for their bills, living, etc. The government needs to raise the ceiling by only a few million, while raising taxes and cutting spending on a few key issues, such as overseas wars that don't need to be going on. I wish that there was a different way to do this than by just raising the ceiling, since that creates a potential deeper debt, but the government needs more time to fix the issues at hand, without cutting key programs.
Teddy Schneider
In response to Brian C's post, I agree that the debt ceiling should be raised to gain more time to fix the problem. On the other hand, i disagree with the ways the government should fix the problems following the raising of the ceiling. Brian, how would you explain cutting Social security and Medicaid to those who rely on these programs for survival? I understand that this is a "dog eat dog" world, but that is a tad bit extreme in that there would be people who would greatly suffer from this loss. Why not raise taxes on the wealthy, who can handle having this financial weight on them? There are other ways to handle the deficit than punish the poor, thereby ignoring the rich.
Ryan M.
Unfortunately, I agree with the poo-footed muleburglar that is Tom Kotak. Although he may lack common decency, his knowledge of economics is adequate enough for this conversation. He is right in that raising the ceiling is really the only plausible option. There will be no positive effects of having the government void all treasury securities when the debt ceiling is reached. We need a economic nicotine patch; we need to slowly but surely increase efforts to decrease the deficit.
I agree with Pat’s idea to have the government start paying back its debts after the debt ceiling is raised once again. Not raising the debt ceiling and forcing the government to completely change its ways would have a horrible impact on the economy, but gradually paying back the nation’s debt would keep the economy stable. I definitely expect another increase to the debt ceiling, but I’m not too sure that the government will do its job to lower the country’s debt when it really should.
Chris I.
I believe that the debt ceiling is something that we should be worrying about because if the debt ceiling were to be raised any further and foriegn banks deny loaning the United States money there could be a government shut down because the United States would have no money to spend for it's programs. If the government were to default on it's loans there would first be a stoppage of government function followed by a recession in the United States economy as this would cause Aggregate Demand to decrease. A way we could work to fix this problem is to increase domestic taxes decreasing the need for foreign loans thus slowly and eventually decreasing the national debt.
Chris I.
I agree with Brian C.'s comment that the budget ceiling is a potential trouble that could be of great detriment to the United States and it's international trading partners. If the budget deficit were to reach it's maximum limit as determined by law and the United States government were to be rendered unable to spend money the international economy as a whole could be thrown into a recession because as Brian had mentioned the United States is one of the more active and influential members in the global economy and if their (the United States) economy were to be in a recessionary period in would negatively affect the world business.
Ryan Schneider
I agree with Eric C’s interpretation of what the debt ceiling is, and what it actually means. His metaphor of the burning apartment building is almost exactly what I envisioned the debt ceiling. We both seem to agree on the fact that the debt ceiling being reached is not necessarily a big problem; it just causes us to raise it higher, however eventually one day we will reach the top floor and have nowhere else to go and be stuck if another fire comes around. In addition, I am very intrigued by his proposed solution to this problem. He proposes that will put in place a new, but permanent limit. Through this means we will be forced to deal with the problem of the fire rather than just accepting the disaster. One flaw I see is the improbability that we can actually maintain a limit over a long period of time-especially given our habits over the past half-century.
Kelly D.
I agree with Eric C's suggestion to raise the debt ceiling and set that as the permanent price ceiling. By doing this, it gives the government time to raise taxes and cut down on spending so that it could start to decrease the amount of debt. If the government doesn't start to make changes when it comes to the budget, we will be seeing this problem continuously, so setting an unraisable ceiling would hopefully bring an end to this reoccurring issue.
Brian C.
In response to Teddy's questions, I will say that people who abuse their health during their lifetime should not be given benefits when the time comes where the abuse kicks in. Of course, this does not apply to everyone because sympathy should be shown for those who develop an uncontrollable, unexpected illness over time. Social Security and Medicare are extremely expensive programs and should not recieve any more funding at the time. You did mention Medicaid so I do not know if you meant Medicare but I'll state my position on that as well. I do sympathize for those who were born into poor families and must suffer as a result, but I do not sympathize for those who have the ability to work and choose not to. There are many people who misuse Medicaid and try to recieve benefits without working or searching for job openings. My point is that we should not give tax money to people who abuse their health or who do not look for job opportunities and mooch off of other people's money. I understand the arguement on raising taxes on the wealthy because they can afford it more, but I do not agree to this. I would prefer raising taxes on the majority of households that make less than $250,000 per year since taxes can be raised at a much smaller rate. Roughly 2 or 3 percent of the U.S. makes over $250,000 which is why the majority making less than this should be taxed more, but at a lower rate than what the wealthy would be taxed.
Alexandra T
I agree with Eric G when he says that cutting spending is necessary regardless of economic consequences. Continuing to spend the amount of money that the United States is spending at the rate at which the money is being spent is like putting a band aid on a cut that needs stitches; while spending may help people in the economy currently, we are only postponing the problem and are not solving anything while the issue is continuously getting worse. The government needs to start paying off their debt and stop trying to temporarily fix the problem in the short run, while it is growing to unmanageable levels in the long run.
I agree with what Ryan M. in that if the U.S. government does default on their loans, the economy will struggle greatly. This is because the U.S. would have to start paying its debt without taking out any loans, and foreign nations would decrease its investment in the U.S. The other main problem that would emerge is the government would have to decrease its spending, which would increase taxes and unemployment. This scenerio would likely put the U.S. back into a recession. With that said, it seems like the only noteworthy option is to increase the debt ceiling.
James C.
In response to Eric G's comment, I fully agree that spending has to be cut. Suppose we decide to continue raising the debt ceiling every few years, what were to happen should there be no source of loans to the federal government due to the accrued debt over the years. I mean, who's to say that the federal government would even be able to obtain the loans if it becomes notorious in taking out loans but not paying them back. Currently, the the debt ceiling seems to be rather cyclical, it gets raised every few years and then we meet the ceiling, then it needs to be raised again, the process continues. In my overall opinion, what we need to do is not create a higher ceiling, but set a projected cap in which we would never raise the ceiling past. Unfortunately at present time, the ceiling must be raised, but it must also be taken seriously that the ceiling cannot be abused like we are currently doing. What we should do in the mean time is raise it once, possibly twice more of needed, but no further, between the first and second raise we need to start cutting back and run the government capitalistically like it should be in the first place, so as to spur more economic growth and to remove the national debt.
I agree with everyone who agrees with me, but also Mike Lau. The bold font on his original post drew my attention and impressed his opinion onto me, so I will say that the we have to acclimate to the changing price ceiling and debt levels. Obviously, refusing to raise the ceiling will destroy the world but we don't have much time to make up this gap... that's why we need to start cutting it real fast, so we can manage a reasonable debt ceiling that serves a legitimate purpose.
I agree with Saif because in reality, we have no choice but to raise the debt ceiling. Should we not take any action, we will default on our loans. This will not only cause our interest rates to skyrocket, but also destroy our country’s credit. The international market invests in the dollar because we have never defaulted before; America thrives on credit. In the future, other countries will be reluctant to purchase US securities. Imagine how you would buy a house or car if nobody would lend you money; this is our fate should we default. Therefore, it is to our best interest to raise the ceiling, yet take immediate action to close our budget deficit.
Kaitlyn H.
I agree with Vanessa in saying that the debt ceiling is definitely something we should be worrying about. When the limit on the debt ceiling has been reached, which was two days ago, the government won’t be able to pay any of its bills or spend anymore. The economy will not be able to function correctly without borrowing funds. The only way to stop the government from defaulting on its loans is to raise the debt ceiling, so that the government can still keep spending and pay off their bills.
James K
In response to Mike L., raising the debt ceiling will only serve to postpone the inevitable collapse of the government if action is not taken immediately to prevent it. The debt ceiling has been raised twenty times in the past decade, and each time nothing has been done to resolve the United States debt issue. I f the debt ceiling is kept at its current level, then this will force the government to take action towards easing the burden this debt places upon America’s shoulders. Raising taxes and cutting government spending may anger people, but we have let the debt spiral so far out of control that it is now necessary. If we are to ever recover, then drastic actions must be taken. Delaying the government collapse by raising the debt ceiling will only make it that much harder to reverse the trends that got us into this mess to begin with.
John B-
I do not think that the country should be overly concerned about our debt's rapid approach towards the current debt ceiling of $14.3 trillion dollars. I feel this way because it is not the first time that this has happened to our country, and it will almost certainly not be the last time. It would be completely ridiculous to even consider defaulting our economy because it would bring widespread economic disaster to not only America, but also to the rest of the world. If the government were to default, it would be unable to barrow any more money, so America would be unable to continue important programs and the current War on Terror. Also, the citizens of the country would be forced to pay much higher taxes. Our only real solution to this problem is to raise the debt ceiling. This is a good choice because we have raised the debt ceiling in the past with no negative ramifications, ao it would be wise to assume that nothing negative would happen this time,
I agree with what Chris M said because we both believe that the debt ceiling is not a significant thing to be worried about. It would be simply impossible to default the economy, so raising the debt ceiling really is the only true option
Greg M.
I completely agree with Peter. He brings up a stat saying that this $14.24 trillion makes up 90% of the GDP of the United States. This is a huge deal regarding our debt ceiling. Also, Peter mentions that the United States is the "foundation of world trade." I agree with this also because of how important we as a nation are to trade as well as how important the US dollar is to trade. Lastly, he says Congress should stop procrastinating and at least do something productive which I also agree with.
Steve G.
I agree with Bess because as much as I would love to say that we need to stop raising the debt ceiling, we should enable our government to borrow more in the coming vote so that it may continue (or start) to function more efficiently and then incrementally begin to lower the ceiling through systematic cuts in spending--specifically in areas like defense and social security/medicare--to alleviate our national debt to further increase. Though I recognize that this will not be an easy thing to do, to maintain a high standard in this country, something must be done and I believe this is the best course of action possible.
Mark S.
I agree with Eric G When he said "I believe that cutting spending to aviod this critical colapse is needed regardless of the economic consiquences. We as a nation need to stop running deficits and start paying off the people we owe." We can't just raise the debt ceiling and leave this problem to get worse. I see that we probably won't have a choice this time if we want to avoid a global catastrophe but we can't just raise the ceiling and call the problem fixed! We need to implement new legislation that will cut spending, raising taxes, or do whatever it takes so we never have to raise the ceiling again.
I agree with Mike C's approach to solving the problem. While we have to raise the ceiling out of pure necessity, we should also work towards paying off our debts after it is raised. We need to work towards actually solving the problem instead of just ignoring it like we have been doing.
Chris M.
In response to Ryan S., I must in my honest opinion that we can no longer maintain a "healthy" debt level, because the federal government obviously lacks the responsibility to control spending without the threat of a real debt ceiling. Though we consistently say that the Federal Government must be treated differently than an individual when it comes to debt, and though this is partly true, the fact of the matter is that the government must once and for all stop spending and tax cuts that are spiraling out of control. If there is not a firm debt ceiling in place, the government will continue to spend itself into oblivion with money that it does not have. Though the rammifications of raising the debt ceiling / defaulting on some obligations are not horrifically terrible, that is not a justification to continue our fiscal path as it has been for the past decade.
Tyler R
I agree with John S because i also think that if we do not raise the debt ceiling our government will have no source of borrowing money. I also agree that for now we should raise the debt ceiling to solve the temporary problem but in the future we have to cut our spending in order to actually solve the problem.
Angelina S.
The debt ceiling is of imminent concern as it was passed on Monday and Congress has until August 2nd to vote to raise it. Congress has already done so 10 times in the last decade, but the federal debt continues to grow. Although raising the debt ceiling yet again may not seem that fiscally responsible, at this time I think it is the best option. If Congress does not do so, the government would be forced to default on some of its loans which would have disastrous consequences for the world economy since U.S. Treasury bonds are held all over the world. The main purpose of a debt ceiling is to encourage self-reflection that would limit spending, and it should be used as thus. Even if the debt ceiling is raised, serious efforts need to be made to cut spending and lessen the debt to prevent another shattering of the debt ceiling in the future.
Angelina S.
I agree with Arnavi V. The debt ceiling should be raised to prevent the government from defaulting on its loans, since this would have devastating economic consequences beyond just the United States. However, this should also encourage action that will prevent the necessity of raising the debt ceiling yet again. Whether it is through spending cuts or tax increases, the government has to do something to eliminate its debt. Eventually the problem has to be faced, and the sooner, the better.
Connor L.
I was watching Donald Rumsfeld a few weeks back on Letterman when he was promoting his newest book, Known and Unknown: A Memoir, and one of the things that he said he thinks most Americans are almost 100% unaware of is the debt ceiling. After reading these few articles, I have to say that it definitely is something worth worrying about. Saif said it best by stating that if the national deficit reaches its limit, then our country truly will be unable to borrow any means of capital from any nation and a global financial crisis will begin, unlike anything the world’s seen before. Historically, however, as the articles correctly state, upon reaching the national debt ceiling, Congress has passed legislation that increases it, preventing such a catastrophe from occurring. Clearly, the United States plays a crucial part in the world’s economy as a whole.
Given the circumstance that the government chooses to default (of which it wouldn’t), the world’s economy would plummet, hence why the government must increase the national debt ceiling.
Connor L.
In response to Aaron R.
After reading what Aaron wrote about his tactic to solve the national debt dilemma, I must say that he makes a few very good points. He correctly states that there are many ways to prevent a government shutdown from occurring, however, there definitely is a need to worry about the fact that we are reaching our debt limit.
Interestingly enough, I think his solutions to this problem make a lot of sense. The fact that he says he’d like to “take measures to postpone a crisis [by] borrowing from federal pension [funds] to buy some time” is an excellent idea, minus the fact that federal workers would be ticked, that’s besides the point. We have enough money revolving in our economy to prevent a debt crisis from occurring—it’s just a matter of reallocating those funds and making good use of them.
Overall, I must say that I agree with Aaron due to the fact that, through doing this, we should raise the debt limit only a little bit. Because if we keep raising the limit, as Eric C. correctly states, we soon will so high up in the apartment building of ours that we’re going to run out of room.
Eric B.
I'm almost as worried about the debt ceiling as I am about the Rapture this Saturday. For this reason, I've stopped preparing momentarily to respond to this blog post. Impending apocalypse aside, I don't see the debt ceiling as a bug threat as our deficit is currently. As weary as every politician is to suggest that we raise taxes, it is truly time for it. Our mandatory spending is at an enormous rate and if we want to keep social security etc. something has to give. Although I know the debt ceiling will be raised, it is important in my mind that since Congress is raising the ceiling again, they should commit to sticking to this one ceiling. Isn't ten times enough? I feel that the United States government should realize that they cannot continually drive us further and further into debt through things like the renewal of Bush tax cuts etc. My viewpoint of this situation is that the American people are extremely fickle, and want everything for nothing. However, I in no way want the government defaulting on any loans, I have college to pay for! (EVERYTHING FOR NOTHING!)
I agree with everyone who agreed with Eric G. but only because he is allergic to moss. But honestly, i also agree with the idea of cutting spending, as should everyone. There is no way to fix the deficit without the government getting their hands dirty, as most seem to think. I would also agree with the wonderful Mike B. in his definition of what a debt ceiling was. He really hit the nail on the head with that one. But honestly, I find it hard to find anyone to disagree with, because no one has proposed a bad idea, unless I missed a post that said do nothing and keep raising the ceiling.
Mike L
I disagree with James K mostly because he seems to disagree with me... Why would you do that? Yes, uncontrolled deficit spending will definitely lead to this impending doom that you speak of; however, a complete cut off of spending would be even worse. Imagine that because of your vast knowledge of making bread you supply the needs that many people require to live. Then all of the sudden you decide you don't want to share anymore because no one wanted to help you make it. Anyway, by cutting spending, you cut the only source through which the economy can hope to rebound. So we shouldn't do what you said.
The debt ceiling is really something to worry about because our government debt is close to the GDP. If it continues to raise then it will be harder for us to pay it back. If government does default in their debt then our country will fall into pieces. Our government will no longer function until it has paid it's debt. To solve this problem our government should work together and think logically. For an example, the government should do away with Bush tax cuts because the government loses money and the tax cuts haven't help in the beginning of the recession nor today. From this chart you can see the government lost major amount of revenue because of the useless cuts:http://www.usgovernmentrevenue.com/downchart_gr.php?year=1990_2011&view=1&expand=&units=p&log=linear&fy=fy12&chart=F0-total&bar=0&stack=1&size=m&title=&state=US&color=c&local=s
I agree with Mike L. He makes a really good point.
Eric Culver, the most intelligent, best dressed, and handsomest man I've ever met is spot on. His analysis through his metaphor of a building was uncanny and should earn him at least 2 Pulitzer prizes. His points are all spot on and effortlessly discern truth in this cruel cloudy ocean of lies that we call the internet. His intellect and infallible intuition make his opinion to extend the debt ceiling the obvious solution as he is never wrong. His argument is well-formed and i love him. Eric I love you
As of now the debt ceiling should be a huge concern for the U.S. government as well as the country as a whole. The current ceiling for our government is approximately 14.3 trillion dollars. This number is expected to rise in the near future, and continue to rise after that. We can look at the rising ceiling of the U.S in two ways, one as a good thing that allows the government to continually borrow the money that it needs in order to sustain our current tax rates, or we can see this rising ceiling as a deficit that will create an unbelievably high debt for the United States. Though there are both positive and negative side effects to both of these views, I believe that the most effective thing for the U.S to do would be to raise the ceiling once again. Though the ceiling has been raised over ten times since it has been established, this heightening ceiling allows the citizens of the states and the government to keep taxes low, and ensure that the U.S has the means necessary to keep the country running with prosperity.
In response to Eric C, I completely agree with his statement. His comparison of the debt ceiling to the apartment building is perfect. The idea that the ceiling will eventually reach its height and explode, creates a greater necessity for the government to take action now.
Post a Comment