ombow: The government would not have defaulted if the debt ceiling was not raised. There was sufficient money coming in to pay the interest on the debt. Other government spending may have had to be curtailed or delayed, but default could have been avoided. The Tea Party wanted a significant reduction in future spending and/or the start of the process to get a Constitutional Amendment requiring a balanced budget, like all states have to do because states can't print money. The nut cases are those that think we can continue to spend 40% more than the Treasury takes in in tax revenue, year after year after year....and that there will be no adverse consequences from all this reckless spending.
I have news for you. We're already in big trouble. The Tea Party is the only thing that is modestly trying to restore some fiscal sanity. Either we as a nation begin the process of significantly reducing spending or the bond market will impose it upon us. It is estimated that at current spending levels by 2020 it would take the rest of the world to utilize 20% of their collective GDP to buy Treasuries in order to keep rolling over our debt. That's not going to happen. So interest rates will rise and rise precipitously. Interest on the debt will forcefully squeeze out other government spending. That debt will prevent us from funding an adequate defense department, pay public pensions, meet Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security promises, fund the VA, fund all the various agencies like HUD and the Transportation Dept. etc.
A child born today has a $44,000 debt on his/her back right after leaving the womb. That debt is for money we've already spent and wasted. It is unconscionable. I ask you sincerely, what level of debt is enough? So the sound minds, to the extent that there are any, know that the fanatics are the spenders who understand nothing about macroeconomics, markets, and the rise and fall of empires. But it's probably not their fault. They might have gone to government schools where affixing condoms to cucumbers supplants any real education. Brother you need to read more and listen less to the liberal/big media echo chamber. You seem to lack any fundamental understanding of economics.
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