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Opening Arguments

We can freeze without getting burned

A fair criticism of Chris Christie and Tim Pawlenty (praised in this post) is that it's easy for them to say the debt ceiling shouldn't be raised because they aren't in Congress and wouldn't have to deal with the consequences. But Sen. Pat Toomey is and would have to, and in this Wall Street Journal piece, he joins those who are calling the notion that we simply have to raise the ceiling nonsense:

In fact, if Congress refuses to raise the debt ceiling, the federal government will still have far more than enough money to fully service our debt. Next year, for instance, about 6.5% of all projected federal government expenditures will go to interest on our debt, and tax revenue is projected to cover about 67% of all government expenditures. With roughly 10 times more income than needed to honor our debt obligations, why would we ever default?

To make absolutely sure, I intend to introduce legislation that would require the Treasury to make interest payments on our debt its first priority in the event that the debt ceiling is not raised. This would not only ensure the continued confidence of investors at home and abroad, but would enable us to have an honest debate about the consequences of our eventual decision about the debt ceiling.

[. . .]

The vote on whether to raise the debt ceiling—and, if so, by how much—is our best opportunity to insist that any increase in our nation's debt be coupled with concrete steps toward fiscal sanity. Congress should make increasing our debt contingent on immediate cuts in spending and effective reforms of the spending process that helped get us into this mess.

If we can fund only two-thirds of our obligations and can't borrow for the other third, that will enable us to keep paying interest on the debt and have a serious conversation about how much of our government we're actually willing to pay for.

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