Obama Warns Debt Ceiling Fight Could Be ‘Catastrophic’

So President Obama please present your ideas for controlling spending. Do not wait on congress. Do it soon. Please lead!

This numb-nutz needs to learn to cut spending, then he won’t be crying about raising the debt ceiling every year.

Notice he is already setting up his talking points — and of course he’s blaming everyone else except himself.

gosh, I sure wish ABC had a professional journalist that would ask this Administration some tough questions. Like, what they project our deficit will be for the next 4 years. This Administration keeps touting “Billions” in savings, but never break it down to projected deficits for each of the next 4 years. If we had that, then they could ask for a specific amount to raise the debt limit.
But no, our President wants carte blanche.

The debt ceiling fight could be catastrophic because it would force the president to address gross over-spending. Heck, it is might force Congress to do its job and actually pass a budget. I propose to television live the discussions on raising the debt ceiling so ordinary Americans can see their nearly dysfunctional government at work. This is simply a request to see the bipartisanship and transparency we were already promised by president Obama prior to his previous coronation, but was not delivered.

So, you get the tax increases you asked for, and now you say you want to increase them some more? You bet Mr. President!! I trust you!! Because you never change your story (until it suits you)

Most hypocritical administration EVER!!!!
Sen. Obama’s Floor Speech, March 20, 2006:
The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that “the buck stops here.” Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.

When money is tight in my family we don’t go on lavish vacations. Just sayin’.

Is it Obama an alcoholic? Hie just recite the same words over and over again, tax the rich, NO NO,
He is an Obsessive compulsive person.He has veto down thousandths of proposals, and He blame the others, He does not have the guts to say It is my fault .He always go around the bushes avoiding all the issues and telling lies, He never had any plan at all to balance the budget only how to waste the money.If you have money ,you spend it, f you do not have money, you shrink your budget. It is the RIGHT THING TO DO..

But he’s got no problem with the $6 TRILLION he’s already added to the nation’s debt during his first term. Brilliant leadership. Catastrophe would describe his Obamacare, his vision, his brand of negotiating. Clueless.

No, it’s the 16 trillion dollar debt that’s catastrophic….. to our children and grandchildren….Not the fight over doing something about it.

The country is still waiting to hear specifics from republicans on what they will cut. Also the tax increase on wealthy is not a increase but just going back to the original rates. The decrease at the time under Bush was suppose to be temporary, never permanent. Also the party of no ideas (GOP) is clueless on how to insure 50 million Americans and how to create jobs. That is why they lost big time and that is why they will lose the House in 2014.

why is congress in such a tizzy over raising the debt limit again? … they did it many times between 2001 and 2008.

had to pay for Bush’s Blunder in Iraq…i would like to see rebuilding of America infrastructure.

He sounds like a child who is demanding his parents up his credit limit on all his credit cards they trusted him with because he’s max them out. This president is “gifted” in making people feel like nothing is his fault.

The GOP and their supporters ARE a JOKE! They NEVER attempt or even mention the debt until there is a Democrat in the White House. Every move President Obama has made throughout his presidency has been correct and helpful to the economy. The POLITICS played by the GOP since his election in 2008 has been destructive to our country and disgusting in their falsehoods.

What the GOP is doing is ‘creating a crisis’ with the debt ceiling and is using it as ‘blackmail or extortion’ on our nation’s reputation for paying debts… it has all ready agreed to. The debate about ‘reducing spending’ should NOT be included in these talks. This is about our full faith and credit to the world and our debt holders that they will pay our debts. The ‘extreme wealthy’ who just got by with another ‘great deal’ for them are contriolling the ‘narrative’ on spending. And what the ‘extreme conservatives’ are doing is using reduction in spending to ‘defund and destroy the government agencies that serve the less fortunate of our nation. You notice that Grover Norquist never said ‘BOO’ about the payroll tax going up…didn’t you? When are you middle class people who support these ‘clowns’..going to get a clue?

Dan – And the Democrats only cared about the Debt when they were the party out of power – proof is below!
Sen. Obama’s Floor Speech, March 20, 2006:
The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that “the buck stops here.” Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.

Pay the bill “they” have already racked up. What about you Mr. President, stimulus, loans, spending for the last four years to pay off your big donors and unions. You are the President of the USA, it’s time to act like a leader and start doing what is best for the country, not for votes or for donations!

Start running the government on what revenue you take in, you take in plenty. We have too, our government should have too. It’s time the Senate, run by Harry Reid, gave us a budget after four years, it happens to be the law the Senate is to give us a budget yearly. Maybe the Senators should be each fined for breaking the law. Maybe something would start getting done up there.

THEY ALL STINK AGAIN – Obama has no ideas. Every budget he has proposed has been voted down every time by 100%. Here’s something strange. How about, don’t spend more than you take in?

Apparently ABC news makes a habit of censoring certain posts in a supposedly “free speech” society. Sucks to be american!

Again, it’s not his fault. CUT SPENDING!!!

No one is arguing we should not pay our debts. But if you think giving Obama carte blanc over the ability to borrow more will solve the problem, you’re really been blinded by the light.

Too bad he doesn’t fear the out of control spending and the hardships it is placing on our children and grandchildren. The same speech he made on the senate floor against Bush.

Obama’s catastrophic theatrics is getting really old. Don’t know if the country can get through another 4 years of his BS. Perhaps if he pretends to wipe away a phony tear or two, then he could get everyone to do things HIS way.

NEWCOUNTRYMAN said: “No one is arguing we should not pay our debts. But if you think giving Obama carte blanc over the ability to borrow more will solve the problem, you’re really been blinded by the light.” Correct!!! If you are all maxed out on your credit card, you don’t pay it off by continuing to spend. First you must reduce and eliminate the debt.

Bush added $5 trillion to the US national debt in 8 years. Obama has already added over $6 trillion to the debt in Obama’s first 4 years, yet Obama has done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to reign in this excessive spending; Obama’s deficit is still over $1 trillion per year. If Obama is allowed to continue at this rate for another 4 years, Obama will have added more debt than ALL Presidents before him combined; more debt than Washington through G.W. Bush all added together.

To make things MUCH worse, Obama is borrowing about 1/2 of all the money he borrows from foreign countries; China, Japan, Taiwan, and others. LISTEN UP. Americans have to pay all that borrowed money back, WITH INTEREST. The interest on Obama’s debt will continue to grow. 10 years from now the interest will be the #1 Federal budget item.

If Obama continues, we will soon be paying more interest to China and the others than we pay out to our own senior citizens through Social Security.

If Obama continues, we will be paying more to China than we pay for our National Defense.
Obama is headed toward a catastrophe. Because of Obama and the liberal Democrats, Americans WILL have to cut back on EVERYTHING, Americans will suffer just like the Greeks. That’s a certainty. Obama’s borrow-now-and-worry-about-paying-later approach WILL bankrupt America.

I find it absolutely amazing of the ‘cluelessness’ of the far right. They have no idea what the ‘battle cry of cut spending’ means to the middle class in an economy that has so many people on the sidelines…not working. And I guarantee that if we had spent enough to get those people working on our crumbling infrastructure…then we would not be having any discussion about the debt. And the other amazing thing is that the ‘far right dumbed down’ have absolutely no idea that the ‘cutting spending topic’ has no place in the raising of the debt ceiling. Absolutely … no place in that discussion.

We can impeach the King

All the President has to do is agree to meaningful spending cuts, such as Medicare reform. Of course, if he was willing to reform the tax code he could significantly reduce tax rates and increase revenue – oh wait, he can’t reduce tax rates he refused to negotiate that. Not raising the debt ceiling would put the President in the position of having to decide which parts of the government to shut down, it would not cause default on our debt unless that was what President’s chose to do.

Spending like a drunken sailor? Here is the amount recent Presidents raised the debt. Regan 189%, Bush 55%, Clinton 37%, Bush 86%, Obama 35%.

Try again, right-whingers. The tabs we are picking up are the tabs YOU left. You don’t fight two unnecessary wars, cut taxes on the rich, and expect it not to have an effect.

“No one is arguing we should not pay our debts. ”

Yes they did actually. And in so many words. And the rest of the world believed them. Which dropped our credit rating. Well done Republicans.

in Obama’s first 4 years, yet Obama has done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to reign in this excessive spending

Posted by: meab | January 5, 2013, 5:51 pm 5:51 pm

Give your head a shake. Obama was handed a doubled national debt, an ongoing deficit of over a trillion dollars, two unfinished wars and an economy in the midst of the largest collapse since the Great Depression. Consequences for the deficit and the debt? Get real.

Posted by: piimaker | January 5, 2013, 8:05 pm 8:05 pm

Try doing some research on what was really in the Stimulus bill, instead of showing us your complete lack of knowledge. You clearly don’t have a clue what was in the bill.

PIIMAKER .. you forgot also Stimulus Bill Gives ‘Shovel-Ready Remember when Obama smiled and said , “Shovel-ready was not as shovel-ready as we expected.” and GE’s Jeffrey Immelt, and everyone started laughing. ( Immelt was Obama’s Jobs Council Czar)

Posted by: firedup49 | January 5, 2013, 8:52 pm 8:52 pm

Every economist worth their salt said the stimulus pulled the country back from a major recession/depression and added millions of jobs. Real people, real jobs.

Taxes are going up on all of us because of the reckless poliicies of the Media’s President!

Posted by: theeightiesruled1 | January 5, 2013, 8:57 pm 8:57 pm

Taxes are going to have to go up after the doubled national debt built up under Bush, the two unpaid for wars and the major economic collapse he left us all to deal with.

What does it take for ABC News to point out that we have a spending problem under this president? Do we actually have to explain the math or is it just another media cover up of incompetance for Obama.

Stan, Nothing Personal but: PLEASE Do it on your own! That’s all the Founding Fathers would have asked! You can’t be bailed out by the successful in life! Your thoughts are what is troubling to many Americans! Your hatred of Bush, because of the endless negative reporting, is destroying any thought of a recovery! And also, Stan, Damaging the country through reckless regulations, and 3 decades of legislation regarding home ownership is the problem here! BUSH was not the problem! We WERE attacked Remember? This anti War mentality, ALA the 60′s, is the problem in America right now, Apparently 51% agree with you at the detriment of my Son, and potential generations to come! You’ve been blinded by a Media that was hell bent on taking Bush down, and then putting an incompetant in office just because he is half black by origin! The TRUTH must be told, and eventually it will my friends!

Taxes have already gone up for the middle class also. look at your paycheck, They also will be taking out money for Obamacare on “everyones” paycheck.

Get The BUSH hatred out of you head’s and think clearly! PLEASE fo the sake of generations to come!

Posted by: theeightiesruled1 | January 5, 2013, 9:46 pm 9:46 pm

There is no Bush ‘hatred’, it’s just the facts at work. Bush walked out the door leaving a deficit of over a trillion dollars, a doubled national debt, two unpaid for wars and an economy in the midst of the largest collapse since the Great Depression.

Not only does the Presedent need to cut out all his spending habits his wife Michelle needs to stop wasting us tax payers money by eliminating all her vacations, massages, shopping, etc. With all that money she spends on wasteful vacations she couldve helped feed the hurricane Sandy victims, not only that most of us families barely have enough money to feed our own children and by the way Michelle what do you do for our country anyways??????????? It is truly is a shame how our leader can destroy our country!!!!!Stop blamming Bush at least I had a job during his term never had to collect unemployment til you became president!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stan,
we are not the Hypocrites …….The Hypocrites are the ONES who voted for Mr. OBAMA LOL
“These are not rules It is common sense I just have an AAS degree and I know how to budget my money. Remember the President is our leader and needs to set an example for all of us……….”

Only answer is the lending nationals to stop lending.

If the president is so worried about spending limits, then why did he create an exective order giving Biden and Congress a pay raise when they weren’t even asking for it????!!

And then there are the Auto Bailouts, The Energy Startup Cash, Then the Battery startup Cash … all Big Donors to the Obama Re-election Funds…
And then there are The Airforce 1 Expenses .

Yep! My credit card balance has absolutely nothing to do with my spending habits. I got it now.

The fact is that almost all government spending is taken up by Defense, Medicare, Social Security, Transportation (roads, bridges, Homeland security) and interest on the debt. That’s the dirty little secret Republicans keep avoiding. That’s why Republicans never get specific on the “spending” they want to cut. They know their consituents want that stuff and are wonderfully uninformed so they keep talkking about welfare, food stamps, big bird, planned parenthood, etc. when all of that together doesn’t even make a dent in the deficit. Foreign aid is about 2% (as an example) and the lions share of that goes to Israel (no conservative cutting there). The real probelm is that the media does a VERY LOUSY job of higlighting that because they think everyone knows it but the great majority of Republican people don’t. At least not the ones I know (and I know many).

No, BT. The dirty little secret is that you repeat the Democrap talking points without any facts on your side. The deficit did not increase during Obama’s tenure for any of the reasons that you spout. It was because of discretionary give-aways to reward those who voted for him. Time to crawl back under your rock.

“Continuing his effort to frame the looming fight…. I will not compromise over is whether or not Congress should pay the tab for a bill they’ve already racked up.”—This is just framing the debate. Congress has paid all its bills. We have not defaulted. We borrowed $16 trillion to help pay those bills.
The debt limit decides whether we can borrow more or must live within our means. Obama is lying about the parameters of the debate to continue over spending.

@Johnnie wrote: “——–Just when I said to someone, ‘at least the Obama cheerleaders have stopped whining about Bush’ along comes another whiner cheerleading for Alibi Ike.” You’re mistaken… the word is WINNERS. While the WHINERS keep whining at the fact that they put a past LOSER to the past LOSER up against a WINNER! Keep your head in the sand and we’ll take the House in the next election. Thanks!

“The ‘right wing loons’ have no clue that the ‘cutting spending’ topic has absolutely no place when it comes to raising the debt ceiling.” Let me mull that one over awhile.

Posted by: newcountryman | January 6, 2013, 8:04 am 8:04 am

Raising the debt ceiling is about debt ALREADY INCURRED. It is intended to cover commitments already made, not future spending allocations.

“Congress should pay the tab for a bill THEY’VE already racked up.” Good one. Make it sound like it’s all someone else’s fault. Where have I heard that line before? BTW if you spend every cent you can get you hands on, there will be no money for the next Sandy, or Katrina, or volcanic eruption…

NEWCOUNTRYMAN…I’ll give you something ‘better to mull’ that I based that comment on in my above post. I’m reading a great book on what is ‘with’ (in my opinion WRONG) with the GOP. Experts and historians point to a tme about 50 years ago when the “conservative” faction came into vogue in the Party. At the time, it was the smallest faction but they were (and I quote) “militant, economic, social and cultural right wingers; anti-government in rhetoric if not in practice AND predominantly from the South and the West”. And those conservatives saw ‘moderates and progressives’ as something to be destroyed. But most importantly their “loyalty to their beliefs took precedence over their loyalty to their Party”…and unfortunately our nation. Sound familiar…50 years later?

PLAT0JUNIOR, Is your keyboard broken or are you coming off the tail end of an all night bath salt binge? Quit SHOUTING like a MANIAC. It adds nothing to your “argument”. And… your loser lost, quit your crying.

PLAT0JUNIOR, Is your keyboard broken or are you coming off the tail end of an all night bath salt binge? Quit SHOUTING like a MANIAC. It adds nothing to your “argument”. And… your loser lost, quit your crying.
Posted by: ScroogeYou | January 6, 2013, 10:21 am 10:21 am

OH YES KOOL-AID DRINKER YOU ARE SO RIGHT. YOU CAN HEAR ME SCREAMING THROUGH THE INTERNET MAYBE YOU ARE ON THE BATH SALTS??? GO HAIL YOUR GREAT LEADER CHAIRMAN OBAMA.

This is no longer a fair fight.

President Obama has publicly shamed, defeated, and humiliated the GOTP.

The President will hit the GOTP with a marketing campaign shows Americans how the TParty is attempting to take the country hostage.

As he did in 2012, he will make fools of them.

Dave says “Also the tax increase on wealthy is not a increase but just going back to the original rates. The decrease at the time under Bush was suppose to be temporary, never permanent.” By that logic, then we should have gone back to the original rates for everyone. Be desperately need to cut our spending. We can no longer keep adding to the “credit card”; just imagine if each family did that. At some point, the bill comes due.

It will be catastrophic to Obama’s plans, to squander trillions more dollars, in his efforts to bankrupt America…….YES!

“By that logic, then we should have gone back to the original rates for everyone. Be desperately need to cut our spending. We can no longer keep adding to the “credit card”; just imagine if each family did that. At some point, the bill comes due.” Do you ever look at the budget? FDSYS. It’s called adding two wars, medicare part D, and homeland security without funding it, and then get into a near depression which over a trillion of lost revenues followed. BUSH added onto the budget and did not fund it. If Bush couldn’t balance a budget with full employment and gave us 1/2 trillion yearly deficits, then what the hell do you expect? Seriously,you can get rid of the so called entitlements you folks balk about, it would only take a smidgin off on the deficit, then you would have to go into defense. When Clinton left and you folks whine about the bust, 69 billion deficit. Purchasing power…. government spending has to increase naturally, cost of fuel, goods and services RISE which is purchased by the government within the private sector. So when republicans add to cost of government without funding it, it is okay, but when the president is stuck with two wars, medicare part D and Homeland security and a near depression, all of a sudden it’s a spending problem. Get real. China is building a first class space program, and you folks were ticked off that we have to ask the Russians for a ride into space, you talk with both sides of your mouth.

Does anybody think we should sink deeper in debt? Why doesn’t Obama get on the common sense, right side of this issue, instead of wanting to increase the debt,and there would be no conflict in Washington.

Too funny – Obama “fears” – I don’t think so. President Obama has nothing to fear. All his misdeeds or anything that might hurt him are always hidden or not reported by the liberal news. I noticed other news worthy organizations have reported today that President Obama’s campaign was fined $375,000 for losing files containing 1,2000 contributors – oops. No big deal because it’s the liberal in chief. Had this been a Republican president the blood would be dripping from the screens, TV’s and airways.

“and Mr. President if you continue to spend Trillions of Dollars we don’t have to spend, YOU will put this country into a fiscal catastrophe and in fact we ARE in one NOW thanks to you…” Apparently you don’t even bother looking at the budget and have little clue or you do, just typing jibberish on purpose because it really seems clueless to most of us. Are you assuming your statement is going to give us an epiphany and the rest of us can’t do a little research on the internet, directly to the government sites, not those pseudo sites regardless of aisle propaganda ones. The authentic ones, straight to the source.

He should fear it. When you don’t negotiate that is what you get. My senators and congressman had better be careful this time not to support the liberal agenda and lies. I will actively campaign against them and make sure every neighbor I know has the facts. This senate, congress and administration had better get their act together for the people not themselves. No negotiation means they don’t care about the us or the economy. It is all about them.

Reading the comments it appears that the American today is an absolute moron and ABC News is truly a leading reason why.

Posted by: John_in_SD | January 6, 2013, 1:53 pm 1:53 pm

Yes, the American today is moronic enough to give out arrogant insults in a groundless idiotic way. You’ve demonstrated it clearly.

H keeps telling the nation that our spending and debt is unsustainable and then every years demands more and more of it now and is breaking records with it now. H says it’s wrong. The people say it’s the wrong track, yet he keeps making it worse on purpose. Still, those getting something from him seems to out number those not and they don’t care what’s going on until it all crashes down as it is in Greece. Then they’ll be mad when the money’s all gone and there’s no more to keep redistributing. Trillion dollar coins won’t mean much when a dollar doesn’t to begin with. A trillion times 0 is still only worth as much as H himself is. (0 X 1,000,000,000,000 = 0) I was amazed that at the store today I actually heard people meeting over in the produce section and the three of them were talking about how expensive everything is getting and that it’s going to get worse. I said I agreed and we all knew it even though we didn’t know each other. H and his party has defeated a once great nation. When H himself says that what is happening is unsustainable and will destroy the nation, yet demands advancing more of it as policy, then that which is unsustainable and destructive to the nation is his agenda, his goal and he is committed to it and will not compromise on it nor negotiate any method of anything outside he and his party’s goals by design.

Bush left us down a well, Obama dug to China and then refinanced the shovel. Thanks, Prez.

$4.939 trillion since President Obama took office

Posted by: Frankie | January 6, 2013, 7:24 pm 7:24 pm

$1.2 trillion of that is the deficit Bush left for 2009 before Obama took office.
$1.6 trillion is interest on the debt Bush left.
______________
$2.8 trillion is either deficit left by Bush or interest on the debt left by Bush

Add in the unfinished, unpaid for wars, the unpaid for seniors drug program and the largest economic collapse since the Great Depression Bush left and you begin to get an idea.

Bush mismanaged wars in Central Asia, Obama leaves the battlefield to militant Islam and throws-in Africa as a parting gift.

Posted by: PEIKOVYAN | January 6, 2013, 7:43 pm 7:43 pm

You may support sending young Americans to die in Africa and the middle east on a continuing basis – many, many Americans would not. You are aware there are huge costs associated with wars right?

$4.939 trillion since President Obama took office

Posted by: Frankie | January 6, 2013, 7:24 pm 7:24 pm

Sorry, your simplistic, thoughtless explanation does not hold water.

$1.2 trillion of that is the deficit Bush left for 2009 before Obama took office.
$1.6 trillion is interest on the debt Bush left.
______________
$2.8 trillion is either deficit left by Bush or interest on the debt left by Bush. It had NOTHING to do with Obama.

Add in the unfinished, unpaid for wars, the unpaid for seniors drug program and the largest economic collapse since the Great Depression Bush left and you begin to get an idea.

Obama is borrowing well over $2 billion everyday and running up the debt by well over $1.2 trillion every year!

running up the debt by well over $1.2 trillion every year

Posted by: The Inconvenient Truth | January 6, 2013, 8:44 pm 8:44 pm

That’s the ongoing deficit Bush handed Obama in 2009, along with a country in the midst of the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. Those things have consequences.

If Obama keeps up the out-of-control spending, that does NOT reduce the deficit, that keeps it SOARING.

Posted by: Frankie | January 6, 2013, 9:17 pm 9:17 pm

You seem to have missed the fact – it’s not the President who determines spending. The large part of it falls to the House (controlled by Republicans).

Responding to JIM, Interesting that you single out Republicans in your remarks on spending. That would seem to infer that Republicans are the problem. It’s also interesting that Obama (the Democrats) wanted a 60.4 billion dollar relief package for Hurricane Sandy victims, but when Republicans acted like good guys and removed all of the extraneous pork, the number was 9.7 billion and much more sensible.

Responding to THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH, yes, that is exactly what Obama said, plus he called it irresponsible. And he played the “blame Bush” game and said that Bush had taken a credit card and that he kept driving up the debt and that “every man, woman and child” would have to pay. Funny thing, but this is exactly what Obama is doing, and although he tries to frighten everyone with the word “catastrophic,” he keeps spending like there’s no tomorrow.

Obama once said that our huge debt was unpatriotic!

Posted by: The Inconvenient Truth | January 6, 2013, 10:43 pm 10:43 pm

Too bad you didn’t listen to him. We might have avoided the entire Bush disaster.

IS THERE ANY QUESTION as to whether this guy will ever accept any responsibility whatsoever for his own actions? “”"”"”"”one thing I will not compromise over is whether or not Congress should pay the tab for a bill they’ve already racked up.” “If Congress refuses to give the United States the ability to pay its bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy could be catastrophic,” he continues. “The last time Congress threatened this course of action, our entire economy suffered for it.””"”"”"