Bernanke: Raise debt ceiling, no strings
These are the types we have running our country, and their belief is raise the limit and keep spending. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is saying that Congress must raise the debt ceiling and not use a potential U.S. debt default as leverage to get spending cuts.
“Raising the debt ceiling, which Congress has to do periodically, gives the government the ability to pay its existing bills — it doesn’t create new deficits, it doesn’t create new spending,” Bernanke said at the University of Michigan.
“Not raising the debt ceiling is sort of like a family, which is trying to improve its credit rating, saying, ‘Oh, I know how we can save money — we won’t pay our credit card bills,'” he said.
If borrowing money doesn’t contribute to the debt, then what do you call it?
Bernanke who is a Republican was first appointed by President George W Bush, in 2006, said policymakers face “difficult and contentious decisions” about spending and tax policies. But those decisions should not be made “in the context of the debt ceiling,” he said. His comments come just a few hours after Obama demanded congress raise the ceiling.
“America cannot afford another debate with this Congress about whether or not they should pay the bills they’ve already racked up,” Obama said in his final scheduled White House news conference before his second inauguration next week.
Obama said not raising the debt ceiling would be irresponsible and absurd.
But the top Republican leaders of the House and Senate immediately rebuffed Obama’s remarks.
“The American people do not support raising the debt ceiling without reducing government spending at the same time,” House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a statement. “The consequences of failing to increase the debt ceiling are real, but so, too, are the consequences of allowing our spending problem to go unresolved.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a separate statement, “The president and his allies need to get serious about spending, and the debt-limit debate is the perfect time for it.”
The U.S. government neared the borrowing limit Dec. 31, 2012, and the Treasury Department has been using special maneuvers, such as halting payments to federal pensions, to buy additional time.
Senate Democratic leaders have said they plan to introduce a bill early next month that would let the president raise the debt ceiling on his own, now and in the future. House Republicans are widely expected to oppose that measure.
- Posted in: Business ♦ Current Events ♦ Decisions ♦ Politics
- Tagged: Federal REserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, raise debt ceiling
Newsdesk International 
How much of a raise did Obama promise you for backing him Bernie? Bet you didn’t realize how foolish you, the fed reserve chairman, were going to look saying that at the same time credit agencies were going to warn to further lower U.S. credit rating if they didn’t do like republicans have been trying to get dems to do, and cut spending.
A little egg on the face is ok though. Good for your complexion.