There seems to be a lot of fear mongering going on over our debt situation, even though we defaulted in 1979 and survived. What does that mean anyway...very grave... thats a rather strong and unusual word to use. Here's an idea, lets stop bombing the middle east and sending aid to countries that don't need it.
From the American Pundit:
Flashback: United States Defaulted in 1979
by Stephan Tawney on July 27, 2011
Democrats — and some Republicans — are out today insisting that failure to raise the debt ceiling would not only be bad but absolutely catastrophic. We’ve heard time and time again that it would be the first time in history America has failed to pay her bills. A disturbing precedent we can not afford to establish.
Only one problem: It’s bullhockey.
As the Washington Post notes, the United States actually defaulted on many of her debts in 1979. While a debt limit hike was approved at the last minute, delays meant payments to service debt obligations were late. In effect, we stopped paying our bills.
None of which is to say we should model the current debate on its 1979 counterpart. Conservatives are all about personal responsibility and paying what you owe. We should avoid default and keep our obligations to those we owe money.
But politicians need to stop lying about the ungodly apocalypse that would, they claim, envelop the Earth should the debt ceiling not be increased by August 2nd. Not only do we have the funds to pay our bills until August 10th, as the New York Times has reported, but we’ve defaulted before and lived to tell the tale.
Only one problem: It’s bullhockey.
As the Washington Post notes, the United States actually defaulted on many of her debts in 1979. While a debt limit hike was approved at the last minute, delays meant payments to service debt obligations were late. In effect, we stopped paying our bills.
“You hear lot of people say, ‘The government never defaulted.’ The truth is, yeah, they did .?.?. It might have been small, it might have been inadvertent, but it happened,” said Terry Zivney, a finance professor at Ball State University who co-authored a paper on the episode entitled “The Day the United States Defaulted on Treasury Bills.”Was the result lovely? No. Interest rates rose and some investors later sued to recover lost income. But did the world end? No. And the economy didn’t plunge into the depths of hell, never to emerge again. It sucked but we got over and through it. We defaulted on debt and survived to tell the tale.
None of which is to say we should model the current debate on its 1979 counterpart. Conservatives are all about personal responsibility and paying what you owe. We should avoid default and keep our obligations to those we owe money.
But politicians need to stop lying about the ungodly apocalypse that would, they claim, envelop the Earth should the debt ceiling not be increased by August 2nd. Not only do we have the funds to pay our bills until August 10th, as the New York Times has reported, but we’ve defaulted before and lived to tell the tale.
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