Mike Lillis
The Hill
1/2/2011
Top White House economic advisor Austan Goolsbee warned Sunday that a congressional failure to rise the nation’s debt limit early this year would be “catastrophic.”
“It pains me that we would even be talking about this,” Goolsbee told ABC’s “This Week.”
“This is not a game. You know, the debt ceiling is not something to toy with. … If we hit the debt ceiling, that’s essentially defaulting on our obligations, which is totally unprecedented in American history. The impact on the economy would be catastrophic. I mean, that would be a worse financial economic crisis than anything we saw in 2008.”
The current debt limit is $14.3 trillion, which Washington is expected to hit in February. A failure to raise the ceiling would prevent Congress from borrowing funds to pay the country’s obligations. Some conservatives — notably many in the incoming class of Tea Party-backed Republicans — are threatening to vote against raising the cap, arguing that the U.S. simply can’t afford to rely so heavily on borrowing.
The article continues at The Hill.
H/T Weasel Zippers
Also at The Hill: Graham: No vote to increase debt ceiling without spending, entitlement reforms and With strong momentum on slashing deficit, strife looms in GOP
