On the recordMay 17, 2012
Madam Speaker, it seems like Groundhog Day all over again. Earlier this week, GOP leaders laid down a new gambit on the old debate over whether to acknowledge our Nation's financial obligations. Those leaders have already abandoned the deal we made on the last debt ceiling package and are shifting all the cuts to education, infrastructure, and other vital domestic programs. Now they want another round of unsustainable cuts to these programs which will again bring us back to the brink of default. We know the possible consequences: Market collapse, jobs lost, more than $1 trillion added to the deficit every year, interest rates will rise. Just getting close to this cliff threatens the U.S. credit rating. We know that from recent experience. The Speaker has said, no, he doesn't want to abandon the debt ceiling, he doesn't want to violate the debt ceiling, he doesn't want to let the country go into default. But isn't this the same kind of uncertainty that our Republican friends say they are most concerned about? One day it's, Well, we're not going to raise the debt ceiling. The next day, No, I didn't mean that. We need certainty; we need stability, and we need to recognize this Nation's obligations. ____________________
