Raising the debt ceiling: Here we go again!

House Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama

Barack Obama wants Congress to raise the debt ceiling again. Democrats love spending and will vote for any increase he wants, while Republicans will fight any increase without major spending cuts. That just about sums up the argument, on a very simple, superficial level.

The National Debt is a growing problem which needs to be addressed. Unfortunately, the President and Congressional leaders don’t see it as a problem. They say they do, but they don’t

Barack Obama has done a horrendous job as President. Federal spending is out of control and the National Debt is growing rapidly. John Boehner and the Republicans have every right to demand major spending cuts. Unfortunately, there are two problems. First, they should have started acting as the debt ceiling police years ago when George W. Bush and his predecessors were President. They also need to propose meaningful cuts, not just token cuts to appeal to the base. » read more

There should be only one Presidential candidate for the Tea Party

For Tea Party members, Ron Paul should be the only choice.

There has been a lot of talk about the Tea Party, and what effect its members will have on the Presidential race. So far, it has been much ado about nothing.

All of the candidates have attempted to court the Tea Party to some extent, but it should be a wasted of time, since only one candidate represents the group’s alleged philosophy. If you support a balanced budget, then how can you vote for someone who voted to raise the debt ceiling several times, and is a big spender? Santorum is bad, but Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are no better.

If one of them is elected President, I have no doubt they will spend less than Barack Obama. Unfortunately, the cuts proposed by them are miniscule, and would do little to reduce the deficit, let alone the National Debt. If you don’t believe me, check out the size of the deficit, then read their plans. Are they really going to right America’s ship?
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A debt limit fight is on the horizon

Everyone in Washington will be seeing dollar signs this fall.

It looks like we might will be heading toward another fight over the debt limit. According to Senator Rob Portman, the current limit will likely be reached before Election Day, making it a big topic of debates and news coverage.

Here’s a preview of what we have to expect, courtesy of Senator Portman:

“Following the contentious debt ceiling last August, President Obama promised that he would take action to address the country’s fiscal crisis. He has failed to do that,” Portman said. “In fact, his new budget increases spending and projects that Washington will be hitting the debt ceiling again in mid-October – burning through a $2.1 trillion debt limit increase in just over 14 months.”

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Raising the debt ceiling: Look at the big picture

Rep. Eric Cantor leads talks to raise the debt ceiling.

Republican negotiators have walked out of talks to increase the debt ceiling. Why? Let me summarize: Democrats don’t want to cut spending, and Republicans don’t want to raise taxes. To this point, some cuts have been agreed on, but no tax increases are being considered by the Republicans.

These talks are taking place because the debt ceiling needs to be raised in order to avoid a bond default on August 2nd. Ideally, both sides would develop some common sense and use this as an opportunity to set the budget straight, to truly fix it, rather than just make temporary repairs. » read more

The U.S. government needs to have its credit cards cut in half

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wants the United States to keep borrowing.

Let’s say you have an individual that is in deep financial trouble. This person constantly uses their credit cards, spends their money as soon as they get it, and are generally irresponsible. If this person is having trouble paying their mortgage, electric, and grocery bill, what should they do? If you have common sense, you would probably suggest that this person stop nonessential purchases. By doing this, they’ll have enough for their bills, and hopefully, some left over to pay off their credit card balances, which will increase their monthly cash flow.

That solution makes sense, but I have another suggestion. What if the person called up the credit card companies and asked for a credit limit increase? If the banks agreed, they could keep spending lots of money, then use the borrowed funds to take care of their monthly expenses. Eventually, they would reach their credit limit, but they could just make more calls to the credit card companies, and continue to have their credit limit increased. Problem solved! » read more

So much for deficit reduction: CBO says health care bill will be $59 billion in the red

Do you remember how Democrats (rightly) criticized Republicans for passing a prescription drug plan that added to the deficit? Democrats criticized their irresponsible behavior and vowed that health care reform would not only be deficit neutral, but that it would also reduce the deficit. Well, now it looks like the Democrats are being exposed as the hypocrites they are. The Congressional Budget Office found that the proposal would be $59 billion in the red. I can’t to hear how Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Barack Obama will spin this latest piece of news.