The stories you want. The opinions that matter.
No, thanks
Tag: borrowing authority

Obama: We Might Not Be Able To Send August Social Security Checks

Barack Obama is now saying that the government may not be able to send seniors their August 3rd Social Security checks if Republicans do not agree to a compromise that raises the debt ceiling. The president issued the warning during an interview with CBS News scheduled to air tonight.

Obama’s press secretary confirmed to The Hill that “we can’t guarantee if there were a default that any specific bill would be paid,” if the debt ceiling is not raised.

To ensure that the August 3rd Social Security checks will be sent, the government’s borrowing authority must be increased by August 2nd. So far, Republicans in Congress have refused to raise the ceiling unless Democrats agree to cut social welfare programs without raising taxes on anyone.

By invoking Social Security, a beloved social program often referred to as the “Third Rail” of American politics, Obama is calculating that the public will blame obstructionist Republicans–and not his own administration–for an impasse that denies senior citizens, the single group of Americans most likely to vote, their benefits. [The Hill]

Obama Warns of Collapse of Government Services If Debt Ceiling Isn’t Raised

Barack Obama raised the specter of food safety inspections falling by the wayside and young people being denied college scholarships if the debt ceiling isn’t raised and the government exhausts its borrowing authority at a White House press conference today.

He continued his cat-and-mouse game with supporting gay marriage, calling New York’s marriage equality law “a good thing” even as he has continued to decline to “make news on the subject.”

Taking a different tack than he had previously, the president pointedly jabbed Congress for failing to do its part to help create jobs, whether by passing an extension of the payroll tax cut initiated last winter or a bill to provide loans for local businesses to hire workers for road and bridge repair.

Playing pundit, he said the Republican position to protect tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires, and corporate jet-owners in the fight over finding new sources of revenue for a deficit-reducing deal on raising the debt ceiling was not a “sustainable position,” suggesting the GOP in Congress would pay a hefty political price if it continued to refuse to meet Democrats–and the country at large–in the middle on the issue.