Cliff Stearns: “Lost in the hyperbolic statements and calls of doom-- ``if Congress does not raise the current debt ceiling''--is the…”

“Lost in the hyperbolic statements and calls of doom-- ``if Congress does not raise the current debt ceiling''--is the real problem that our Nation faces: the out-of-control spending that has become epidemic here in Congress. No doubt a technical default in August surely would be problematic. But much worse would be the results if Republicans caved to Democrats and no significant spending reforms are implemented. Today, my colleagues, 68 cents of every dollar is spent on entitlement programs. By the year 2025, the government will spend 100 percent of every dollar of revenues on entitlements. The United States is over $14 trillion in debt, and without spending cuts in the deficit, our national debt will continue to grow. We must begin to rein in spending and bring about the fiscal changes to protect our children from this growing burden of debt. Mr. Speaker, importantly, markets understand the difference between a technical default in which investors may have to wait a short period of time for an interest payment and an actual default in which a country is unable to repay its debt. If Congress does not act appropriately now, very soon the country will not face merely a technical default, but instead a real default. Then the calls of doom will be appropriate. Investors have every incentive to want Congress to balance its budget and get its house in order finally. If this means investors will have to wait a few days for an interest payment to be repaid, then so be it.…”