Now I know he can sign it electronically.
Your post is very informative on the whole - thanks. I would question this one paragraph that I quoted. (I’ve seen a lot of other people make this same comparison and claim, although invariably people who are using it to argue against the tactic, which leads me to discount the claim just a bit.)
ISTM that Congress doesn’t “spend” money in the sense that a person with a credit card does. The person is a consumer - they put charges on their credit cards for things that they consume - they eat food, buy products, go on vacations etc. The money that is spent is gone, and now they have an obligation to pay for what they’ve consumed.
In the case of congress, they pass laws authorizing spending, but the money is not out the door yet. To the extent that they authorize spending via one law and then pull back that authorization by refusing to fund it, they’re certainly inflicting a lot of pain on the people who interact with them and need to understand what they’re really doing or who need to rely on these payments, but it’s not the same thing as not paying the credit card.
What would be the equivalent is defaulting on the debt. But I don’t know that refusing to raise the credit limit is the equivalent of defaulting on the debt. Debt payments are a big chunk of the US budget but not nearly the majority of it, and if drastic cuts were made to other parts then the debt could be paid.
All that said, I’ve not followed the nitty gritty of this too closely, so I could be wrong. Let me know.
Moved to Elections from GD.
They’re on vacation, he’s on a business trip. Not the same thing.
Waitaminnit, now, this thread is about politics, but how is it about elections? The OP never mentioned anything about how it would affect the 2014 midterms.
Trip cancelled.
Is Fox News reporting that the cancellation makes Obama look bad?
You say that like they have any other way to report any news whatsoever :).
He could cure cancer and Fox’s headline would be “Obama backstabs domestic pharmaceutical industry”. If god almighty manifested just to give Obama a thumbs up, Fox would be criticizing the President’s apparent kowtowing to foreign interests.
Obama was hired (elected) to do a job. Right now, I agree with the OP, if for no other reason than it makes Obama appear attached and concerned with the problem America is facing right now.
It’s not cancelled, cancelled. He’s sending Kerry in his place, and Kerry is there now.
The Senate HAS passed a clean CR, it’s the Republican House that refuses to do so.