It is playing chicken, and we don't think that that's what congressional leaders meant when they reassured the President and they reassured the public that the debt ceiling would be raised.
First, a debt ceiling never actually restrains growth in the public debt or spending, and since it only appears to do so, it misleads citizens into believing institutional fiscal restraints exist.
How American voters will react to deep cuts to federal programs meant to stimulate the economy and decrease unemployment in 2012 is as unpredictable as the brinksmanship the public has just endured over the debt ceiling.
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He also said there should be limits to the amount of government debt held by the public and that the ceiling should be lowered as the Social Security surpluses mounted.
Obviously, the ceiling itself does not fundamentally restrain public debt, nor the excessive deficit-spending which causes debt to build.
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Even without the liabilities of Northern Rock and other banks rescued by the government, public debt is clearly going to smash through the 40% ceiling as tax revenues swoon and welfare spending rises.
During the debt ceiling debate, you asked for the American public to call members of Congress and switchboards got jammed.
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Beijing, of course, has no debt ceiling to raise, and so it has avoided a public airing of its problems.
Never once during those episodes has the United States defaulted on interest payments on the national debt nor has it had to suspend or reduce Social Security payments, although the prospect of both calamities occurring is always used to scare the American public into supporting an unconditional increase in the debt limit fairly quickly after the debt ceiling is reached.
President Barack Obama said during a public address on Monday that the country could see its AAA debt downgraded unless the debt ceiling is raised by next Tuesday.
If the government has to shut down as a result of a standoff when the government's general operating budget expires in late March or the debt ceiling is not raised this spring, Republicans will continue to lose the public's confidence in their ability to govern and the reduction in services will highlight to Americans what the government actually does.
The debt ceiling is just the first of many opportunities to bring this choice to the public.
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