Jon Tester: “The Senator is correct. There are so many folks out there who claim to be probusiness folks and that they know what is…”

“The Senator is correct. There are so many folks out there who claim to be probusiness folks and that they know what is going on in the business community. This whole debate that revolves around the debt ceiling is about as antibusiness as we can have. The fact is that if we don't increase the debt ceiling--and the Senator from Oregon and the Senator from Alaska have already pointed it out--interest rates not only go up for our national debt, they go up for everybody. The economy decreases and shrinks, and as a result we have less revenue coming in. Everybody knows that if we are going to address our national debt, we have to have a vibrant economy to address it. We came through a period of time where we had a Vice President who said debt doesn't matter, we got into two wars, two major tax cuts, a Medicare Part-D plan, and the worst recession--some would call a depression--since the 1930s, where the tax revenue dropped like a rock and the safety net programs to keep people afloat--which cost money-- were decreased. Now we have a situation with the debt that we need to deal with. The worst thing we can do is play around with the debt ceiling so our economy tanks again, and then we will see not only the interest rate go up on the debt but the debt go through the roof one more time. It does not make any sense from all the different perspectives.…”