Obama: Raising the Debt Ceiling In No Way Contributes to Raising the Ceiling on our Debt

Well put, said the media.

His argument is that the debt ceiling is not the "overspending" part of the equation, but merely the "pay bills we've already accumulated" part.

First, that's simply wrong. No debt ceiling hike is retroactive. The debt ceiling permits future borrowing.

Second, even to the extent he's right (which he's, you know, not), spending more than we take in requires two preconditions:

1) A government which favors spending the next generation's money.

2) A change in the debt ceiling which permits the government to do so.

If either of those are lacking, the attempt to eat the next generation's seedcorn fails, and additional monies cannot be spent.

Via @instapundit, David Harsanyi notes that America is sort of in favor of keeping the debt ceiling down.

A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released last week finds that 44 percent of respondents are against raising the debt ceiling and only 22 percent believe it should be raised so the U.S. avoids “going into bankruptcy and defaulting on its obligations.” A third of those who answered are unsure.

A Reason-Rupe poll finds that 55 percent of Americans say they do not support raising the debt ceiling even if it causes the U.S. to default. With dollar-to-dollar spending cuts, 45 percent say they’d support raising it and 46 percent would still oppose.

ABC News has a poll out that finds voters nearly split on the debt ceiling, with 46 percent saying yes raise it and 43 percent saying no. Among Independents, 48 percent support raising it and 46 percent opposing.

When polls aren’t going your way it can only mean one thing: widespread ignorance.

He says that by way of introducing some leftwingers who accuse the public of being ignorant, which they are, but they're always ignorant, including when they support the Democrats' favored policies, so it's a bit churlish to mention this only in the specific case.

Sure, they're ignorant. And sure, they don't admit the extent to which they love Government Welfare.

But still, they are in favor of keeping the debt ceiling down, at least nominally. And that means that the House has more power than it's letting on.

All the power? Oh by no means. Of course not.

But as I keep saying, you can't bluff your way into a win in poker without actually bluffing. You have to take a stab at the pot -- you have to force your opponent to make a decision -- call, fold, or raise -- by pressuring him with a raise first.

The GOP seems to just want to keep calling Obama's bids. And our cards are weaker. So, we lose this way. If you just keep calling you go to the showdown and you lay down and you lose.

Do I think we can win with a raise? Eh, probably not.

Do I think we can win with a call? Definitely not.

posted by Ace at 12:39 PM

| Access Comments