Obama’s crew loves chaos. Remember: These guys rode to victory in 2008 largely because of the financial collapse — and won with promises to lead a moderate economic course that put Americans back to work.
Debt-fight doomsayers
Charles Gasparino
New York Post
7/24/2011
I’ve lost count of how many times President Obama and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner have said over the last three days that America might default if the debt-ceiling impasse continues. For the good of the country, let’s hope the markets have forgotten as well.
It’s hard to see how Obama, Geithner or White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley could have had the good of the country in mind as they made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows — spreading dire predictions about default if the debt ceiling isn’t raised in the fashion that they and their Democratic allies believe appropriate.
For all their apocalyptic talk, they’re still demanding a budget deal filled with jobs-killing taxes, even as unemployment remains north of 9 percent.
OK, a default would be a disaster. A US failure to pay bond holders could tank the Dow and upend the bond markets, where companies borrow to finance everything from plant and equipment to employee salaries.
Credit cards might not work because banks won’t have access to borrowed money to lend to consumers. Forget about getting a loan to buy a house or a car.
In other words, the economy could come to a halt.
But there’s no reason for default even if there’s never a debt-ceiling hike…
The article continues at the NY Post.
Update: Obama privately assures banks that default won’t happen, even if debt ceiling isn’t raised
…While officials from the Obama Administration raised their rhetoric over the weekend about the possibility of a debt default if the debt ceiling isn’t raised, they privately have been telling top executives at major U.S. banks that such an event won’t happen, FOX Business has learned.
In a series of phone calls, administration officials have told bankers that the administration will not allow a default to happen even if the debt cap isn’t raised by the August 2 date Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner says the government will run out of money to pay all its bills, including obligations to bond holders. Geithner made the rounds on the Sunday talk shows saying a default is imminent if the debt ceiling isn’t raised, and President Obama issued a similar warning during a Friday press conference after budget negotiations with House Republicans broke down…
