When you're right, you're right, and Geithner is right on this one. There's been some talk about the need for filibuster reform as the filibuster has been abused so much in recent years-particularly after Obama was elected.
Just as crying out for change is the debt ceiling which has no reason to exist in its current form at least. . In the past it was just a prop for political theater. However, the GOP in 2011 did a lot more than must political theater-they actually did great harm.
"Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the U.S. “absolutely” should get rid of the debt ceiling as soon as possible."
“It would have been time a long time ago to eliminate it,” Geithner told Bloomberg TV on Friday. “The sooner the better.”
"Geithner did not commit to personally doing anything to eliminate the nation’s legal limit on borrowing. When pressed on the issue, Geithner told Bloomberg TV: “This is only something only Congress can solve. Congress put it on itself.”
"As the American Prospect explained last year, “experts — including former Office of Budget and Management and Treasury officials, congressional staffers, and CBO employees — have suggested in the past, and are suggesting now, replacing the debt ceiling with debt targets for lawmakers to work under.” Certainly, in its current form, the debt ceiling does nothing but give the minority party a chance to manufacture a crisis every time it needs to be increased."
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/11/19/1212691/geithner-abolish-debt-ceiling/
This ability to manufacture a crisis through abusing it makes it very similar to the filibuster. Neither has a useful purpose.
No comments:
Post a Comment