David Price: “We should never have reached this point. Under Democratic and Republican presidents alike, Congress has always fulfilled…”

“We should never have reached this point. Under Democratic and Republican presidents alike, Congress has always fulfilled its responsibility to pay our nation's bills when they come due. We have disagreed vehemently about matters of fiscal policy, but we have always recognized that the full faith and credit of the United States should remain above the partisan fray. Until now, that is. Make no mistake, this is a manufactured crisis. For the last several weeks, Republicans have held our nation's economy hostage to their narrow and extreme ideological agenda, demanding a ransom of devastating cuts to critical domestic programs while protecting tax breaks for oil companies and other special interests. No matter that Social Security benefits, military pay, and the credit rating of our country have all been hanging in the balance--apparently, economic calamity is a small price to pay for ideological purity. I voted months ago for a clean debt ceiling increase. I voted days ago for an alternative, bipartisan Senate plan to increase the debt ceiling and cut spending in carefully targeted ways. That the House and Senate are just now considering legislation to stave off default is a tremendous failure by House Republicans, who could not bring the most extreme elements of their caucus to a more balanced legislative solution. The result is an agreement which could have been worse but is still not good enough.…”