http://bit.ly/doGdQ - - - Washington -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner asked Congress to increase the $12.1 trillion debt limit on Friday, saying it is "critically important" that they act in the next two months.
Mr. Geithner, in a letter to U.S. lawmakers, said that the Treasury projects that the current debt limit could be reached as early mid-October. Increasing the limit is important to instilling confidence in global investors, Mr. Geithner said. The Treasury didn't request a specific increase in the letter. "It is critically important that Congress act before the limit is reached so that citizens and investors here and around the world can remain confident that the United States will always meet its obligations," Mr. Geithner said in a letter to lawmakers. Mr. Geithner said the that it is "clearly a moment in our history" that requires support from both Democrats and Republicans for the increase. "Congress has never failed to raise the debt limit when necessary," Mr. Geithner said. - - - Speaking of failed policies of the past and violating the laws of economics, here is a translation in plain English, for those who don't appreciate the nuance in Turbo-Tax-Cheat Timmy Geithner's request: "We completely sold you down a river of debt, and unless you agree to more of it, there's going to be hell to pay." The irony here is that in a little over six months in office Obama has increased the debt by half the figure George Bush increased it over all eight of his years, and he still has the nerve to blame Bush for the fiscal mess he inherited. He rightly castigates Bush for adding $4 trillion over eight years, but he's on the verge of $2 trillion this year alone, and proposing programs that will create a permanent $2-trillion-per-year deficit over the next 10 years. Promises (and we know what they are worth in politics!) to halve *that* number still create institutional deficits bigger than any one year deficit under Bush. And by the way don't buy the $1.8 trillion deficit figure for fiscal 2009. That number was around before the government realized its tax receipts dropped 32% this year over last. The reckless spendapalooza is going bust fast. Incidentally: What's the point of a federal "debt limit" if every time it's reached, Congress "bravely" rises to the occasion to increase it? That's like an obese person capping their personal weight limit at 300 lbs, bumping it up 50 lbs every time they get close to the limit. Ah, what's another 50 lbs, when you're already several hundred points overweight? Hope and change, good and hard! - Bob "Democracy is the theory that the common man knows what he wants and deserves to get it, good and hard!" -- H. L. Mencken _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
