A simple Democratic solution to the debt limit issue.

[kentuck]

Since the Democrats had left George W Bush and the Republicans a balanced budget with a huge projected surplus in 2001, we understand where the debt originated and what was passed on to the present President and Congress.

With that understanding, we should propose to eliminate that debt that was created by the last Administration and his Party. We should propose to let the Bush taxcuts expire immediately, not at the end of 2012. The facts show that half of all the debt was created by these taxcuts and two wars that were not paid for.

That should be the Democratic starting point. Unfortunately, we now have an economy that is in near ruin, thanks to the policies of the dribble-downers of the last decade. They inherited an unemployment rate of 4.1% in 2001 and left us with an unemployment rate that was losing 750,000 jobs per month. We have to work ourselves out of that and that is debt that we will have to accept.

However, we should have a simple plan to fix this debt issue. That would be to rollback the policies of the radical Republicans of the last ten years. That should be our starting point and we should take that to the American people and let them decide. It is no more complicated than that.

[Sirveri]

1. Don't forget those two wars they tossed into our lap as well.

I say we should raise the rates now, then also let the Bush tax cuts expire in 2012. Too bad it'll never get past the house now.

[n2doc]

2. I think he should invoke the 14th amendment and ignore the debt limit.

Let them take it to the USSC and see what happens.

14th amendment, Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

[kentuck]

6. Can you post this as a stand-alone post?

I think it is information that most are not aware of:

"14th amendment, Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void."

[kelly1mm]

7. The problem with that approach is that you could pay all those items

(interest on the debt, pensions including SS) without raising the debt limit. Current income meets approximately 70% of outflows - easily enough to pay those arguably constitutionally protected items. Other things like Medicare, Medicaid, Headstart, Unemployment, energy assistance etc .... not so much

[azul]

3. And the compromise settled upon would be

a new pay as you go law and cuts in the military budget to offset any taxcuts left standing in balancing the budget.

Are we an empire of businesses or a democratic republic of real people? I'm for raising the upper tax rate back above 90% for wealthy individuals and war profiteer corporations until the budget is back in black.

The upper tax rate was 91% from 1951 to 1963. Then the corporate captains of the MIC pirates invaded our shores, waving false flags, and the great society experiment was quietly torpedoed and sunk.

[Overseas]

4. K&R!

I strongly agree.

Our Democratic legislators should be starting there. Being bipartisan doesn't have to mean pretending Republicans did not cause the Bush Crash with their tax cuts and wars.

[azul]

5. Illegal wars from the illegal republican president.

Sorry, just being a looking-back law and order hold-out.

[Overseas]

9. Yes indeed.

[Zebedeo]

8. Hmmm

I think we are better off not mentioning the historical unemployment rate. The fact is that the employment rate under the 8 years of Bush prior to the 2008 election was always in the 4s, 5s and 6s. The lowest it has been under the current administration is the rate on the day President Obama took office. I wish it were otherwise, but that is the truth. What we really need is for the unemployment rate to come down dramatically by the Summer of 2012.