Opinions on the U.S. federal government shutdown

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Madison

It's just that easy. This outcome certainly won't have any devastating consequences at all, really, and it's a far better solution than behaving like reasonable adults and managing our spending in a professional, measured way.

I'm sold.

To quote the article.

Most people will probably complain about one or more of the cuts proposed here. That is to be expected. If you didn’t notice, NASA and the Departments of Commerce and Energy were completely eliminated. Deep cuts were made to some other departments (Education, EPA, Agriculture, and HUD). Welfare spending was reduced.

I'm not sold. I'm not even close to sold. He also eliminated any spending on the Affordable Care Act (aka, he gave in to the Tea Party faction). More so, the author doesn't even understand what the debt ceiling is. To once again quote the article.

Having established that the government could continue to operate without an increase in the debt ceiling, let’s also make clear the opposite position. President Obama has repeatedly claimed in the past few weeks that raising the debt ceiling does not increase the national debt. He says it is just a necessary step so the government can pay the bills Congress has already voted to incur. This is not true.

Well, contrary to Mr. Dorfman, it is true. The debt limit does not authorize higher future debt, but rather allows the US to meet existing payment obligations. Dont' believe me, just look at the US Treasury website. Whether or not the US Treasury defaults on its debt payments, once the "extraordinary meansures" are exhausted, without any legal authorization to prioritize certain payments over others, the US Treasury would indeed have to delay payments. With each passing week, the US would come closer and closer to defaulting on payments and federal employees would once again find themselves in a situation where they're waiting on back pay.

The author completely ignores how reaching the debt ceiling would impact the financial markets (which have been characterized as as bad as the "Great Recession") and continuing damage to the United States' credit rating.

Beyond all this, his closing line about comparing the US Government to an American family's budget is one that's often trumpeted, but has little semblance to reality. It's a line that's really easy to sell, but the truth is far more complicated.
http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/family...rnment-budget/
http://desertbeacon.wordpress.com/20...-faulty-logic/

Let's call the push for a "balanced budget" what it really is. Austerity.