Back to the Future on Debt Ceiling Fight
debt, Nation, obama 4:04 AM
by Nick Stone of Drawnlines Politics.
On August 5, 1953 the Milwaukee Sentinel ran an editorial on the failure of President Truman to force Congress to raise the legal debt limit. Democrats and Republicans came together to tell the president that spending had become out of control. Treasury Secretary Humphrey and President Truman managed to steamroll a bill through the House, but the Senate wasn't so quick to budge. According to the Sentinel, "A bipartisan majority of the finance subcommittee concluded that the only way to stop astronomical spending was to force the Treasury to keep within the law." Facing defeat, the president and secretary were urged to find ways to economize instead.
The situation over the national debt seems largely similar between 1953 and today. On Wednesday, House Republicans met with President Obama to hash out a plan to raise the debt ceiling while slashing federal spending. The same day, CNBC reported, "The Treasury Department has warned that the country could face a default that could push it back into recession and roil markets across the globe if it does not raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit by Aug 2." On economizing, they reported, "Treasury has been tapping federal employee pensions and other funds to pay the nation's bills since it reached the current debt limit on May 16."
Where will the current debt fight end? Words the Sentinel penned in 1953 echo true today: "We shall have to wait and see. But it is something, and a mighty big something, that Secretary Humphrey will postpone the necessity as long as he can."
On August 5, 1953 the Milwaukee Sentinel ran an editorial on the failure of President Truman to force Congress to raise the legal debt limit. Democrats and Republicans came together to tell the president that spending had become out of control. Treasury Secretary Humphrey and President Truman managed to steamroll a bill through the House, but the Senate wasn't so quick to budge. According to the Sentinel, "A bipartisan majority of the finance subcommittee concluded that the only way to stop astronomical spending was to force the Treasury to keep within the law." Facing defeat, the president and secretary were urged to find ways to economize instead.
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| CNBC: President Obama and House Republicans talk about the debt ceiling |
Where will the current debt fight end? Words the Sentinel penned in 1953 echo true today: "We shall have to wait and see. But it is something, and a mighty big something, that Secretary Humphrey will postpone the necessity as long as he can."
Posted by Nick Stone
on 4:04 AM.
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