When Water Reaches the Ceiling, Don’t Raise It–Start Pumping!

By Ron Boehme | April 25, 2011 |

I believe we need to bring back an important word that people hesitate to use in politics:

Lie.

Have you noticed that politicians usually skirt that little word? The news anchor says, “Do you think you lied about this or that?” The answer usually comes back, “Well, it might be an untruth , but”….or “I wouldn’t call it a lie, but…”

That’s not good enough anymore. We are being told a number of lies by our government because we are in grave trouble and there is much to cover up. We don’t tolerate lies in our personal lives and dealings, and we shouldn’t in the civil sphere either.

The current lie being told is that we need to raise the United States debt limit or go into default. They’re lying to us because because they need to scare us into getting their way–to keep on spending recklessly.

But it’s a lie–and it’s time we called their bluff.

Yes, we can with integrity oppose the raising of the US debt ceiling; No it will not cause a default or put in jeopardy “the full faith and credit of the United States;” And we must oppose it at this hour because our burgeoning debt is grossly immoral and could cause a collapse of the entire world economy.

Now is the time to say NO.

I cannot un-wrap this subject better than Redstate.com and the Heritage Foundation have done in the following articles. Please read them carefully and do everything in your power to oppose the raising of the US debt ceiling.

It’s not time to raise the ceiling. It’s already far too high. We need to start pumping the flood of government debt out of the precious dwelling we call the United States of America.

On April 25, Redstate exposed the debt ceiling lie quite clearly. Here is their take:

“Reporters, Democrats, and even some Republicans have begun repeating an infectious lie in the prelude to the debt ceiling debate. Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner started it off and it has been repeated by reporters in print, on radio, and on television, including Fox News.”

“The lie is very simple: a failure to raise the debt ceiling will cause a default on American debt. This is utterly and categorically a lie. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar.”

“As Senator Pat Toomey noted the other day,

“Next year, about 7 percent of all projected federal government expenditures will go to interest on our debt. Tax revenue is projected to cover at least 70 percent of all government expenditures. So, under any circumstances, there will be plenty of money to pay our creditors.”

‘Moreover, as the Congressional Research Service has noted, the Treasury secretary himself has the discretion to decide which bills to pay first in the event that a cash flow shortage occurs.’

“Nonetheless, the media and Democrats keep repeating the lie. And it is a lie.”

“Veronique de Rugy and Jason Fichtner chronicled debt ceiling fights in the Washington Times and, from their writing, we can categorically show it to be a lie to claim a failure to raise the debt ceiling will cause a default on American debt obligations.”

‘In 1985, Congress waited nearly three months after the debt limit was reached before authorizing a permanent increase. In 1995, 4 1/2 months passed between hitting the ceiling and congressional action. And in 2002, Congress delayed raising the debt ceiling for three months. In each case, the U.S. and the economy survived.’

“Not only did the economy survive, but the United States did not default on its debt obligations, the United States did not lose its credit rating, and interest rates did not go up as a result of the default.”

“To say that failing to raise the debt ceiling will cause a default is a lie and anyone who says it is a liar.”

“If we fail to raise the debt ceiling and do default, it will not because because of a failure to raise the debt ceiling. It will be because Barack Obama and Tim Geithner chose to default for political gain.”

“Again, as Senator Toomey points out:

‘As the Congressional Research Service has noted, the Treasury secretary himself has the discretion to decide which bills to pay first in the event that a cash flow shortage occurs. Thus, it is he who would have to consciously, and needlessly, choose to default on our debt if the debt ceiling is not promptly raised upon reaching it. It takes a lot of chutzpah to preemptively blame congressional Republicans for a default only he could cause.'”

The Heritage Foundation gives this wise explanation to the debt ceiling debate:

“All across Western Europe—the land of platinum-plated social benefits, the 35-hour work week, tony retirement plans and government-funded health care—countries are coming to the realization that they can no longer afford these luxuries amid skyrocketing deficits. Yet here in the United States, as we face a $14.3 trillion deficit, some are calling for increasing our government’s ability to borrow even more money without any concern for spending reform. Congress can’t allow that to happen, lest we become the Europe of the West.”

“The U.S. government is fast approaching its $14.294 trillion debt ceiling — the statutory limit on how much money it can borrow to finance spending. Just how big is that? To put it in perspective, it would take essentially everything that Americans produced in all of last year to pay off the existing national debt. That comes out to $45,000 of debt for each American.”

“Unfortunately, it’s all too common for Congress to reach that ceiling and keep raising its own credit limit, letting itself borrow and spend even more. In fact, Congress raised the debt ceiling from $6.4 trillion in 2002 and nine times thereafter to its present levels. Hopefully, though, this time will be different.”

“Yesterday on “Face the Nation,” Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) said, “I will vote ‘no’ on raising the debt ceiling unless we have comprehensive, dramatic, effective, and broad-based cuts to federal spending including the reform of entitlement spending.” Sen. Kirk’s instincts are right. The solution starts with Congress. David Addington, Vice President for Domestic and Economic Policy at The Heritage Foundation, writes:

‘Federal spending has been out of control for decades, and federal borrowing has therefore also been out of control for decades. America has amassed a giant, unaffordable debt and a giant, intrusive government. This did not happen by accident. Congress passed all the laws that made it happen. Fortunately, Congress has under the Constitution all the power it needs to solve the problem it created. It needs only the will to do so and the support of the American people.'”

“Here’s how Congress should use that power. As Addington writes, Congress should not increase the debt limit until it puts the government firmly on the path to financial responsibility. And it can get there by cutting current spending, restricting future spending, and putting a more effective federal budgeting process in place.”

“The Heritage Foundation identified $343 billion of potential spending cutsthat could be made on top of the cuts passed by the House in February and the repeal of Obamacare appropriations, which the House approved in January. When it comes to future limits on spending, Congress can impose enforceable caps on out-of-control entitlement programs and pass a balanced budget amendment. The budgeting process should be reformed, too, by making it more transparent and imposing new limits on federal agencies. Merely raising the limit without reforms is the worst option, Addington says:

‘The least acceptable outcome is for Congress to continue to raise the debt ceiling over and over, doing nothing to drive down federal spending and borrowing, and to pile trillions of dollars in debt upon the shoulders of America’s children and the generations to follow.'”

“President Barack Obama and White House officials have warned of global economic Armageddonif Congress does not act now to raise the debt limit. Their warnings, though, are reckless hyperbole. A greater threat is the U.S. government’s unchecked expansion of unsustainable deficit spending. Congress must break its pattern of borrowing more and spending more by acting now to cut spending and get the government’s fiscal house in order. Only then can it avert a real crisis.”

Now that’s the TRUTH about the grossly immoral US debt and debt ceiling.