“$19,000,000,000.000″ … Says Harry

Harry Reid says he will raise the debt limit ceiling to just under $19 trillion.

(CNSNews.com) – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on Wednesday that if the $16.394 trillion current legal limit on the federal government’s debt must be raised in the next few months by another $2.4 trillion, “We’ll raise it.”

That would set the debt limit at $18.794 trillion. 

In the Fall of 2008 a strategic decision was made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and then Senator Barack Obama.   There would be no fiscal year 2009 budget, instead they opted specifically and intentionally to use “Continuing Resolutions” to fund government.

This allowed their candidate Barack Obama to take office without any spending restrictions at all.    In that approach any and all federal spending could be essentially unlimited.   This would also provide the cover for paying back their election supporters with the “Stimulus Funds” under the auspices of The “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Bill”.

In fiscal year 2009 there was no budget so the Stimulus and Bailout spending became embedded in the baseline budget figures.   Again, a strategic approach.    Without a budget removing the stimulus spending the baseline spending could, and would, continue at stimulus levels of spending in Fiscal Year 2010 and beyond.   It worked.

Again in Fiscal Year 2011 and Fiscal year 2012 the same approach was taken.   This led to continuing resolutions and raising of the debt ceiling.

Understanding the difference between “A Budget” and “A Continuing Resolution”.

It is important to remember without a Federal Budget there are no purse strings to tighten to stop spending.    Budgets make spending appropriations, through road maps from Budget Committees, before they are incurred.   Continuing Resolutions pay for the expenditures AFTER they are incurred.
There is an important distinction between the two approaches, and there is only one way to stop the use of Continuing Resolutions.    Don’t raise the debt ceiling.
This was tried in the summer of 2011 and the Republicans were outmaneuvered by President Obama.   John Boehner is the worlds worst spokesperson to make the case of fiscal sanity to the American people, and Mitch McConnell is staggeringly and insufferably the only one worse.
Until people understand that it is an intentional strategy of unlimited spending to operate the Federal Government without a budget, nothing will change.
By law the President must propose a budget each year, so must the house, and so must the Senate.   But there is no law that requires one to actually be adopted.



Subsequently the President proposes insane budgets that could never pass congress.   How bad are they?   So bad that the Fiscal Year 2011 budget only received the votes of two democrats, and the Fiscal Year 2012 proposal did not receive any Democrat votes.
The House of Representatives, in control of Republicans since Jan 2011 presented and passed a Fiscal year 2011 budget and a Fiscal Year 2012 Budget (The Ryan Budgets).   Again, strategically Harry Reid killed them both in the Senate.
So the government is funded with Continuing Resolutions to pay for expenditures after they are incurred.   And every year the Stimulus is respent on government.  And the only way to stop it is to refuse to raise the debt ceiling – which congress will not do.
So President Obama took office with $8.5 Trillion in Debt and now Harry Reid will raise it to $19 Trillion…..  Insufferable, or at least it should be.



by sundancecracker