Obama Using Debt Limit Scare Tactics, Say House GOP'ers

A trio of GOP lawmakers blasted President Obama Wednesday for using fear as an ultimatum and a means to convince Americans that the nation’s debt limit must be raised by August 2.

Reps. Steve King (R-Iowa), Louis Gohmert (R-Texas) and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) accused Obama of threatening Americans after saying he could not guarantee seniors would receive their Social Security benefits if the debt limit is not raised.

“I would encourage the Speaker not to believe the President anymore… because if he did his homework, [Obama] will find that there’s such a thing as a Social Security Trust Fund.”

Gohmert said the fund would provide the government with enough money to pay Social Security beneficiaries for months to come, even if Congress did nothing to raise the nation’s debt limit.

Both Gohmert and Bachmann blasted the Obama administration for using scare tactics against Americans, attempting to make a potential default seem life-ending and comparing these negotiations to the CR debate that took place earlier this year.

“This is a misnomer that I think the President and the Treasury Secretary are trying to pass of on the American people,” Bachmann told reporters. “That is simply not true.”

The three conservatives introduced a piece of legislation that would ensure that the interest on the country’s debt and members of the military be paid in the event of a default. The bill, known as the PROMISES Act, will allow the country to avoid default on August 2, according to the trio.

“There’s money there no matter what we do,” Gohmert said.

House Democrats Move To Increase Debt Limit

By Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer  (D-Md.) said Friday that the House of Representatives will vote next week to increase the the national debt limit by up to $1.9 trillion to avoid a default in U.S. debt.

The Majority Leader said that an increase debt limit is necessary to keep the government running into December of 2010.

“The amount I want to increase the debt is zero,” Hoyer said. “But ... we need to do it so we can meet the bills that we’ve incurred.”

House Democrats are battling to push through legislation that would increase the $12 trillion spending limit by December 31, the date given by the Treasury Department as the deadline for when funds would run out. Passage of the bill would increase the federal debt limit to a total of $14 trillion.

“We are not flexible, we are using December 31 as a deadline,” Hoyer said. “We do not want to wait until the deadline.”

Resistance has been found in fiscally conscious "Blue Dog” Democrats who say they are not willing to vote to increase the deficit unless the legislation includes strict “pay-as-you-go” language, aimed at ensuring that future expenditures will not further increase the deficit.

“The Speaker and I are vowing to make sure we do everything possible to pass statutory Pay-go this year,” Hoyer said. “It would be very difficult to raise the debt limit without support in either chamber of those that are very concerned with fiscal discipline.”

The “Pay-as-you-go measure,” which would require lawmakers to offset new spending by making cuts elsewhere, is expected to be included to a $626 billion Pentagon funding bill that will be voted on next week.

Senators Call For Task Force To Repair Debt

By Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News Service

Sens. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) called on Congress Wednesday to repair the national debt, introducing legislation to create a bipartisan task force to address the long-term budget crisis.

“The biggest threat that faces our nation today is our fiscal situation at the federal level,” Gregg said during a press conference. “We are on a path to bankruptcy as a nation.”

The Task Force for Responsible Fiscal Action Act would be made up 16 Congressional Members and two officials from the Obama administration, including the Secretary of the Treasury. The task force would deliberate to create recommendations to solve fiscal imbalances.

The commission would function under a supermajority. For recommendations to be submitted for a vote, 14 of the 18 members would have to approve it.

“What we have outlined here has the best prospect of success but what is absolutely essential is that there be a special process, that it be bipartisan and that it lead to an assured vote on the work product of the task force,” Conrad said.

Both Senators said they want the bill to be a part of the upcoming vote to increase the debt limit, adding that they will not vote to raise the federal debt limit unless Congress commits to the task force.

“We’re saying very clearly that we’re not going for debt limit extension without an approach like this being included,” said Conrad. “We’re not going to relent on this and we’re not going to agree to any kind of long-term debt limit extension.”
 
The bill has 24 bipartisan co-sponsors thus far: nine Democrats, 14 Republicans and one Independent.