Hitting the Ceiling

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is scrambling to keep the United States' credit rating sound, trying to keep up the payments on the interest on the debt to avoid reaching the debt ceiling limit and defaulting, but he won't be able to do it after some time between the middle of February and the end of March.  House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell have insisted on drastic spending cuts as a condition for raising the debt ceiling.  Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education, and Amtrak could all be on the chopping block.

In his news conference yesterday, President Obama insisted that the debt ceiling was non-negotiable and off the table.  Citing the catastrophic damage that could be done to the economy by not raising the debt ceiling and by allowing a default, he noted that the debt payments involve money already spent, not new spending.  He's happy to discuss budget cuts with the Republicans, but he will not let the debt ceiling be used as a bargaining chip.

The Republican response was this: "Look, we're scared, we're scared!"  

Obama's manly act did not reassure me.  The Republicans were unmoved by that argument last time - why should they be moved now?

Expect the economy to plunge into a depression.  If you have a job, expect to lose it.  If you're a long-term unemployed person looking for work, don't expect to find any.

Is there anything positive  I can say? Well, yes.  If there's one thing I'm positive about, it's that Obama will agree to draconian spending cuts to avoid default . . . but we just might default anyway.

I'm thinking of taking a day trip to Philadelphia on Amtrak in the coming weeks.  It may be my last chance to ever ride the rails.