Liars and Lies

By this time most of The Oxford Tea Party members know our feeling about Mr. Erickson and the good work he and others at RedState do…..We often refer reader to his articles and often quote from the articles. Today we are sending along a complete article on the debt ceiling.

For the next few weeks the liberal media will be spinning the tale of destruction of the nation IF the debt ceiling is not raised. Using their skills to continue raising the level of doubt and fear for citizens…..It is debt ceiling itself that is causing some of our many problems. Once the ceiling is raised then the question congress will face is 'where does the money come from to pay the debt.' A never ending burden on working voters.

How the GOP leadership handles this is very important to watch. No smoke and mirrors can hide a 'fixed debt number.' They will be telling us they are negotiating reduction in the current budgets as if this will placate us or offset the impact of spending more money than government has….

Posted by Erick Erickson 
RedState
Monday, April 25th at 5:00AM EDT

Reporters, Democrats, and even some Republicans have begun repeating an infectious lie in the prelude to the debt ceiling debate. Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner started it off and it has been repeated by reporters in print, on radio, and on television, including Fox News.

The lie is very simple: a failure to raise the debt ceiling will cause a default on American debt.

This is utterly and categorically a lie. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar.

As Senator Pat Toomey noted the other day,

Next year, about 7 percent of all projected federal government expenditures will go to interest on our debt. Tax revenue is projected to cover at least 70 percent of all government expenditures. So, under any circumstances, there will be plenty of money to pay our creditors.
Moreover, as the Congressional Research Service has noted, the Treasury secretary himself has the discretion to decide which bills to pay first in the event that a cash flow shortage occurs.

Nonetheless, the media and Democrats keep repeating the lie. And it is a lie.
Veronique de Rugy and Jason Fichtner chronicled debt ceiling fights in the Washington Times and, from their writing, we can categorically show it to be a lie to claim a failure to raise the debt ceiling will cause a default on American debt obligations.

In 1985, Congress waited nearly three months after the debt limit was reached before authorizing a permanent increase. In 1995, 4 1/2 months passed between hitting the ceiling and congressional action. And in 2002, Congress delayed raising the debt ceiling for three months. In each case, the U.S. and the economy survived.

Not only did the economy survive, but the United States did not default on its debt obligations, the United States did not lose its credit rating, and interest rates did not go up as a result of the default.

To say that failing to raise the debt ceiling will cause a default is a lie and anyone who says it is a liar.

If we fail to raise the debt ceiling and do default, it will not because of a failure to raise the debt ceiling. It will be because Barack Obama and Tim Geithner chose to default for political gain.

Again, as Senator Toomey points out

As the Congressional Research Service has noted, the Treasury secretary himself has the discretion to decide which bills to pay first in the event that a cash flow shortage occurs. Thus, it is he who would have to consciously, and needlessly, choose to default on our debt if the debt ceiling is not promptly raised upon reaching it. It takes a lot of chutzpah to preemptively blame congressional Republicans for a default only he could cause.

This article requires no comment from me….

At some point it seems we must accept that all the old guard politicians need to be replaced. We know what the mission is but how will each of us make sure these goals are met. One person, one voice, and one vote.

Ron
 
docnick37@gmail.com
 
http://theoxfordteaparty.blogspot.com/