Quote Originally Posted by bu villain View Post
This was not a mistake by Jimmy but this seems like a good time to point out that many people don't understand the debt ceiling and what it does. The debt ceiling is not equivalent to a credit card limit, it is more like a limit on what can go out of your checking account. Congress can still pass laws and "buy" as much as they want on their "credit card" regardless of what the debt ceiling is. All the debt ceiling does it say whether they can pay the bill when it comes. The only way to stop congress from spending is to stop passing legislation that requires it or revising existing legislation that requires it. Holding the debt ceiling down will not do it.
Wrong.

The Debt Ceiling closes the amount they can spend by forcing them to prioritize what gets paid with what they have. Right now, its a blank check.

Program costs 100BIllion, spend it, 500 billion spend it, etc etc

When you clamp the debt ceiling down, they must meet their obligations not by printing more money or selling more bogus bonds, they have to deal with the revenue they have coming in.

The debt ceiling is how much MORE MONEY we can BORROW(translation ISSUE) and we never worry about paying down what we already have borrowed or spent. By not lifting the debt ceiling, we will force washington to deal with what they have already spent, not give them more ways to spend more.

There are laws on how much money can be in circulation and the Debt ceiling is 1 factor of the equation