On the recordJuly 19, 2011
Let me just quote from a letter: ``Denigration of the full faith and credit of the United States would have substantial effects on the domestic financial markets and on the value of the dollar in exchange markets. The Nation can ill-afford to allow such a result. The risks, the costs, the disruptions, and the incalculable damage lead me to but one conclusion, that we must pass legislation to raise the debt ceiling.'' President Ronald Reagan. Now, there's legislation floating around here that creates this delusion, into thinking that somehow we can get to that date and it's all made up, that Secretary Geithner cooked the books, and there's legislation that says, you know what, let's pay the Government of China and other creditors before we pay our troops, before we pay our Social Security beneficiaries. What Moody's, what Standard & Poor's, what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others are telling us is, you can't decide to pay your mortgage but not your car payment. If the United States is not fulfilling its obligations to pay for what it has already bought, as Ronald Reagan said, that would have catastrophic consequences.…
