Obama Says He Cannot Guarantee Social Security Checks One Month From Now!
The Debt Ceiling Wars have been ratcheted to new rhetorical highs. The Ceiling was already hit over a month ago, but the government continues to borrow thanks to fraudulent accounting. I should add that such accounting practices would get any private businessman thrown in jail.
Senator McConnell is saying, "But after years of discussions and months of negotiations, I have little question that as long as this president is in the Oval Office, a real solution is unattainable
Speaker Boehner condemns President Obama, "The President talks a good game, but when it comes time to actually putting these issues on the table, making decisions, they can’t quite pull the trigger.
Now, President Obama is meeting fire with fire. He says that unless Republicans cave in and let the orgy of deficit spending continue Social Security checks will have to stop within a month. "I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it."
Unfortunately the whole thing is political theater and both sides are depending on the ignorance, our outright stupidity, of the American voter.
The Republicans, despite all their bluster, simply have no credibility on the issue. Everyone knows they will cave in after they get a few token concessions. Has the American populace already forgotten Boehner's phony debt compromise? The 100 billion dollar cut (which was still hopelessly small considering our 1.6 trillion deficit), that became a 60 billion cut, which became a 38 billion dollar cut. Except, that it ended up being a 353 million dollar cut which is about one tenth of a percent of the federal budget. For Boehner to pretend he is some sort of deficit cutting champion at this point is flatly dishonest.
President Obama isn't doing much better. He is being intentionally deceptive about the difference between an end to deficit spending (which is all that keeping the debt ceiling in place would do) and default. If we leave the ceiling in place, the government can still spend about 2.1 trillion dollars annually.
Interest on our current debt is 164 Billion, Social Security is another 695 Billion, and the Department of Defense runs about 663 Billion. That still leaves over half a trillion dollars for "essential" programs without borrowing another dime or raising the debt ceiling.
So, for him to pretend we will have to turn the lights off come August is worse than silly. It's deliberately misleading. It's economic terrorism. He is saying the world will end unless he gets the money he wants, but that is only true if he causes an economic meltdown. There is nothing about ending deficit spending that will require default, or an end to social security. All it will do is require Washington to quit spending more than it taxes.
In the end, I'm confident that the Republicans will give in after budget cuts that amount to little more than a rounding error, and our debt will climb ever higher. In the meantime, all America can do is wait for a politician who is willing to actually fix the problems we face instead of continuing this farce.
Rational Public Radio is an Objectivist podcast and blog, a.k.a., the rallying center for reasoned warriors in the fight to gain and keep individual freedom.
