(Update) BREAKING EXPOSE'? National Debt Ceiling to be breached again

by NeuvoLiberal, Sun Dec 18, 2005 at 02:38:30 PM EST

Update [2005-12-19 20:44:23 by NeuvoLiberal]: The bill that Sens Conrad (rkg member on the budget cmte) and Sen. Sarbanes (rkg member on the banking, housing and urban affairs cmte) were talking about is the so-called ``Deficit Reduction`` Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005S. 1932. The debate will continue tomorrow at 9:45am, ET (C-Span 2).

Please see this dKos diary on this measure.

Thanks.

Update [2005-12-19 19:13:13 by NeuvoLiberal]:

(a Live update: Sens. Kent Conrad and Paul Sarbanes are talking about the debt RIGHT NOW on the senate floor. Check out the action on C-Span 2 live streams here. They're making great points on this topic. If you are able, please tune in and watch!

From that I gather this critical find: some measure/package under consideration includes a 781 Billion increase in the Debt Ceiling. Please call your senators right away (see below how), and urge them to not increase the ceiling and to rollback the tax cuts for the wealthy (apparently they're included in that measure, to the tune of $70 Billion and $95 billion in the house version).

Every call matters!



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An observation: the run away Bush National Debt. which stood at $8.1 trillion on 12/15 will soon hit the National Debt Ceiling that was raised in November of 2004 to $8.18 Trillion (yes, after the election).

A simple estimation shows that the Federal Government will default on its payments, effectively a bankruptcy, from around the 12th of January, if not earlier, unless the Congress plays along with this grotesque mismanagement by Bush, Cheney & Co and raises the debt ceiling again.

Being X-posted across: Daily Kos, My Left Wing, Booman Tribune, myDD, political Cortex. Volunteers for posting this at Democratic Underground (I can't post a new topic there yet) are welcome.

Update [2005-12-19 9:58:8 by NeuvoLiberal]: When you call your Senators per suggested action agenda below, please talk about these additional aspects:

  1. to detach the ANWR drilling provisions from the Defense spending bill
  2. to rollback the irresponsible Tax Cuts to start bringing the deficit down, instead of raising the Debt Ceiling.

  1. Statutory National Debt Ceiling: $8,180 Billion
  2. Current National Debt (12/15)    $8,099 Billion
  3. Rate of increase in debt:           $2.83 Billion per day
  4. Number of days to max out:         28
  5. Est. date of Federal Bankruptcy: 1/12/06

Resources:

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In fact, it may be worse. Brillig.com link at the moment of this writings claims that The Outstanding Public Debt as of 18 Dec 2005 at 10:24:49 PM GMT is$8,156,993,192,732.62. Interestingly, there was a precipitous drop in the BOPD figures on 12/15 compared to 12/14. If we work with Brillig's numbers, we get:


  1. Current National Debt (12/18)    $8,156 Billion
  2. Number of days to max out:         8.5
  3. Est. date of Federal Bankruptcy: 12/26/05
(Merry Christmas! Just a little something special from uncles Chimpy and Darthy.)

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The politics

I am a bit surprised that this apparently hasn't been observed by the Democrats nor has it been reported on the media. A quick google news search at the time of writing gave these headlines:


Wilder floats spending plan
Richmond Times Dispatch, VA - Dec 17, 2005

Saudi Arabia's 2006 Budget,
Saudi Arabia United States Relations, D.C. - 2 hours ago

CHELSEA New hope for school fix-up
Kennebec Journal, ME - Dec 15, 2005

(hmm, interesting. Didn't know that Saudi Arabia actually puts out a budget plan.)

My guess is that as before, BushCo was hoping to sneak it through after the Congress votes on the Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy (i.e, tax cuts for buddies), some of which are apparently due to expire.

Now that we know, what can be done to thwart these biblical levels of incompetence, mismanagement, and corruption?

In most other democratic nations, the government would be brought down and either new leaders would be elected by the parliament or fresh elections would be called for.

In our case, with impeachment being the only constitutionally available option (other than resignations; and that option being ruled out since the tooth fairy apparently doesn't really exist), and with the presidential line of succession being stacked with none too comforting choices, I have no idea what can and should be done. Any opinions?

A few more figures and thoughts:

  • BushCo assumed a national debt of $5.7 Trillion on 1/21/01 following their SCOTUS-assisted coup in 2000.

  • the projected budget surplus then was $5.6 Trillion over a ten year period

  • the current debt of $8.1 Trillion is a 2.4 Trillion dollar bump up in just under 5 years, which is about $480 Billion per year.

  • each citizen's share of the national debt is $27,371.51

  • the Debt Ceiling was raised a few times in the last five years, with the last one having been on Nov. 17, 2004, after successfully hiding it from the public through the election. See these articles: 10/14/04, 11/04/04, 11/08/04, and 11/17/04. Given that Treasury Sec. Snow was "pleading" days before the election as reported in that 10/14 article, why didn't Kerry's economic team expose this before the election?

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How can you help?

You should call your Members of Congress (MoC) and talk to them about this and the also critical patriot act (Friday's vote was just the beginning of the struggle to fix the act)

Here are two key links for contacting your congresspersons and senators:

  1. congress.org
  2. EFF's detailed help page

Visit both the pages, equip yourself with the contact info, and call/write/fax your MoCs. Here are suggested talking points:

  1. tell them not to raise the debt ceiling again

  2. suggest that they explore possible options to oust this incompetent and corrupt administration from power

  3. on the PATRIOT Act, thank your house representative if he/she voted against the conference report version of the bill H.R. 3199, and express your utter dismay and strong disappointment if they voted for it (don't let the 44 democrats that voted for it get away with it)

  4. thank your senators if they voted against "invoking cloture" in the senate (and anger, dismay etc otherwise)

  5. as I have written earlier, ask them to co-sponsor/vote for Leahy/Sununu's S. 2082 bill in the Senate that extends the debate by 3 months, and Conyers' H.R. 4506 in the house. Read the justification for this bill by Leahy/Sununu here. It is important for you to know that even the Senate version that was unanimously approved (without a public debate) in July is only compromise (and issues such as the NSLs and spygate that have surfaced since that version was written, as well as other possible administrative excesses, should be thoroughly scrutinized), and most provisions will become permanent even with that version. Please ask your MoCs to make way for and hold open floor debates, and ask for a 2 year sunset on the entire Act which would allow for a periodic review of the Act.

Thanks.

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10 Comments

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Tip Jar
thanks in advance.
by NeuvoLiberal 2005-12-18 02:39PM | 0 recs
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Great issue
But I don't think the Democrats are going to pick up on it. And I don't know why. I've been completely baffled why the Democratic leadership doesn't use the national debt and our current account deficit to put fiscal pressure on Bush and the Republican Party.

Dems should be screaming the roof off about voting on another tax cut package for billionaires, before they vote on raising the national debt. This should be a perfect issue. I don't understand why Democrats don't get it.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-12-18 07:06PM | 0 recs
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Then they'd have to fix it
Let's face it, voters tend to be dumb, clumsy, and fickle when it comes to finance.

Also, the Dems are prone to running the next elections based on the rules for an election they ran 20 years or more ago.

For example, they were trying to win with Kerry by making sure they didn't commit the same mistake as they had with Dukakis.

Now, they're so dumb that they think the spectre of the GOP tax cut meme will be raised if they mentyion the deficit.

Dems . . . always fighting the last war.

by jcjcjc 2005-12-19 02:59AM | 0 recs
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Because
The party's position is to balance the books (if at all) by raising taxes, not by cutting spending. Every time the Republicans propose negligable, symbolic cuts, the ususal suspects are on the floor decrying them as draconian.

I myself am a hardcore fiscal hawk, and I support raising taxes with impunity and slashing spending with impunity. I'd rather face the pain over the next thirty years and be solvent again than put off the day of reckoning (which only makes it worse).

So in answer to your querey, Democrats aren't going after the fiscal madness because they really aren't opposed to it.

by Paul Goodman 2005-12-19 01:13PM | 0 recs
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Unfortunately,
neither one of the corporate parties has any high ground on this issue.

Secondly, an overwhelming majority of voters will still pull the lever for the no new taxes candidate over a reality based deficit reduction hawk once they're behind the curtain.

It's probably hopeless anyway. The Boomers decided they didn't want to pay their taxes anymore in 1980. Now they're going to suck what's left of the social programs dry to maintain their standard of living high before the last call for alcohol and the lights go out.

For the record, I'm a Boomer.  

Pretty sad state of affairs. Recommended.

by Seldom Seen Smith 2005-12-19 04:11AM | 0 recs
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Re: Unfortunately,
The Boomers decided they didn't want to pay their taxes anymore in 1980.

There were quite a few of us who favored universal health care and paying the tab as well. I was impressed that Reagan listened to his economic advisors and backed off on tax cuts when the deficits exploded.

Is it the boomers who don't want to raise taxes on billionaires?

by Gary Boatwright 2005-12-19 05:44AM | 0 recs
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Re: Unfortunately,
There were quite a few of us who favored universal health care and paying the tab as well.

Based upon the level of success we've enjoyed in these areas over the last quarter century, there obviously weren't too many of us. For that matter, I recall Walter Mondale being rewarded with one state when he attempted to talk fiscal sanity. Thanx anyway Walter.

Is it the boomers who don't want to raise taxes on billionaires?

Boomers have and continue to take bogus tax cut bait in droves without any regard for the future consequences. Collectively, this generation has chosen to remain oblivious to happenings beyond its own front porch.

 

by Seldom Seen Smith 2005-12-19 07:37AM | 0 recs
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I like you.
What are the odds that when the boomers finally retire that they will be in favor of taxes and social programs again?
by Paul Goodman 2005-12-19 01:15PM | 0 recs
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Re: I like you.
There's always been a disconnect between taxes and social programs with the Boomers. This has been pandered to by the corporate parties, hence the primary motivating factor behind the explosion in federal deficit spending over the last quarter century and the reason that neither corporate party has been able to utilize this issue as a wedge with the Boomers.

Booomers have always been told that their stake in the game is secure and that the well won't run dry on them. As long as elected officials are able to continue down this course and mantain  massive levels of deficit spending unabated, I see little chance at this stage in the game that the Boomers will change their tune.

The future greatly depends upon how much longer the 20 and 30 somethings are going to allow this course of action to continue. They're really the audience the Repugs are directing their privatization schemes towards. The Repugs have been successfully pulling all of these strings for the last quarter century in order to spend the government into Grover Norquist's bathtub. Thus far, it's worked in large part due to the Boomers having been the most self-absorbed generation in the history of this country.

I thought that the internals for the 20/30 somethings as far as participation in 2004 were better than normal and also tend to think they're over-represented in the blogsphere as well; consequently, I think there are already signs that their collective social consciousness is greater than the Boomers and that they may not fall so easily for the corporatist's shell game as did their parents.      

by Seldom Seen Smith 2005-12-19 02:16PM | 0 recs
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The Baby Boomers Mantra
I think there are already signs that their collective social consciousness is greater than the Boomers and that they may not fall so easily for the corporatist's shell game as did their parents.

You are underestimating how far we came from the What's good for General Motors is good for the country 50's. The 50's were an improvement over the late 1800's and early 1900's that led to the Great Depression.

Brad De Long has written an interesting analysis of 20th Century economic history Slouching Towards Utopia?: The Economic History of the Twentieth Century that includes an income distribution chart. (Do a "Find" search for "By 1900")

The chart shows that the percentage wealth of the top 1% dipped to a low in 1980 and rising to nearly the same level as we had in the 1900's.

The mantra of "The Baby Boomers Are Greedy Self Centered Bastards"  hardly accounts for the Reagan Revolution, Supply Side Economics and all of the economic trends that accompanied the last 25 years.

by Gary Boatwright 2005-12-19 05:08PM | 0 recs

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