Contact your senators and representative

[Alsatian]

The debt ceiling battle is going to intensify over the next couple of weeks. We have bandied about this issue some in various threads in this forum recently. I suggest you contact your US representative and US senators and share your thoughts with them. Try to stick to the point. Try to be succinct (not my strong suit, admittedly). Make your preference known.

My feeling is that it is more important to get a GOOD debt ceiling agreement than to get a poor debt ceiling agreement before August 4. That is an artificial deadline in the sense that the world as we know it does not end on August 4 if the debt ceiling is not raised. To the contrary, the revenue will be distributed to pay bills on a prioritized basis. Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Board chairman, himself said last week that more than likely the administration would arrange to service the debt to avoid default. Likewise, no reason why social security checks can't be paid. Some expenses may need to be deferred and maybe some payments made at a fraction of par, but even these things need not persist any longer than it takes to get a GOOD debt ceiling agreement.

A good debt ceiling agreement in my view includes solid, substantive spending cuts NOW in exchange for a small debt ceiling limit increase. How small? Small enough to find out whether the "solid, substantive spending cuts" were real by say February of next year, and if not the debt ceiling is again confronted. At that point in time, someone would have to account for the reality gap between promised spending cuts and the lack of spending cuts.

Taxes are not the answer. Our current deficit problem is a spending problem and not a taxing problem. We are taxed enough. Taxing puts a damper on the economy. Government spending now is 25% of GDP; historically it has been less than 19% of GDP. That is too freakin much government spending. What Obama and the Democrats want to do is control the narrative and get us to think that government spending at the rate of 25% of GDP is the new NORMAL. Well, it isn't the new normal.

Democrats in my life have often been called the Tax and Spend party. I think that is still true, but now it is brought forward in new clothing. Now it is spend first and then tax later -- mightily raised spending then afterwords call for raising taxes.

With reference to the Democratic promise for spending cuts at the same time we raise taxes, this has been tried before. Republicans have gone along with raising taxes and then spending was not cut.

Who really believes that if we increase taxes to cover our spending now that we won't be in the same ugly fix in a few more year? Why would that happen? Because they will just want to spend more and more.

So, whatever your opinion, now is the time to send email or letters to your US representative and US senators. You have no better forum for getting your opinion where it can effect this debate, other than waiting to cast your ballot in November 2012.

[RobertSubnet]

Democrats in my life have often been called the Tax and Spend party. I think that is still true, but now it is brought forward in new clothing. Now it is spend first and then tax later -- mightily raised spending then afterwords call for raising taxes.

Actually it is worse that that. It seems the democrat strategy is spend massively until you are up against the debt limit. With the credit of the U.S. government held hostage the debt limit is raised again - wouldn't want to wreck the U.S. credit rating after all. Then with a newly printed credit card go out and spend massively again. Wash, rinse, repeat all the while telling the people this is "normal."