From the Richmond Times Dispatch:

Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., said Friday that he feels like someone walking around Washington with a sign that says, “The end is near. We’ve got to act.”

During a stop in Richmond, Warner expressed disappointment that budget deficit talks led by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. had collapsed Thursday when House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-7th, and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., walked away, blaming differences over taxes.

“People are still playing political games,” Warner said. “The idea that we can solve this on one side of the balance sheet is a fundamental lack of basic Econ 101.”

Warner, who has for months been working toward a solution with a bipartisan group of senators known as the “Gang of Six,” said Thursday’s developments gave new urgency to that effort, which has languished since Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., departed weeks ago.

“We’ve still got a few items outstanding, but if we can’t get those finalized, we ought to at least present what we have,” Warner said, adding he hopes they can do so in the next week.

The Gang of Six effort aims to cut $4.5 trillion from the debt over 10 years with across-the-board cuts and tax reform.

Warner said continuing to play politics while approaching the looming Aug. 2 deadline set by the U.S. Treasury for a debt-ceiling increase is “totally irresponsible.”

Even before August, he said, the U.S. could see an increase in interest rates that could cause “a financial shockwave” that would be a stake through the heart of the recovery, and worse.

“The fear I have is if we hit that wall, if we hit that crisis, what are the tools that we have left?” he said.

Mark Warner is one of the smartest politicians around about money.   August 2 is right around the corner.  We need to make sure that our debt ceiling is raised, just to operate as a country.

Enough political grand-standing by the likes of Eric Cantor who really should know better.  His wife should grab him by the ear and escort him right back into the meeting he so dramatically waltzed out of.  His wife chairs the board of directors who oversee the entire Virginia Retirement System.  I hope she isn’t given to the same histrionics.

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24 Thoughts to “Warner warns of calamity if Washington won’t act on debt”

  1. I’ll take his concerns more seriously when he convinces the Senate to actually submit a budget. They are the ones that have played games for the last two years.

    Why should we raise the debt ceiling? To borrow MORE money to pay for the money we’ve borrowed? How’s that working out? It’s time for the Democrats to own up to the fact that you cannot spend your way out of debt. This hue and cry about defaults is idiotic. We have enough income to pay the service on our debts.

    Its time for the Congress to CUT spending. Dollar for dollar. You want it raised, cut that amount out.

  2. What happens if we don’t, Cargo? What are the consequences?

    It isn’t Mark Warners job to submit a budget. Let’s take care of what needs to be taken care of first. No deflections.

  3. It is Mark Warner’s job to submit a competing budget. He is a Senator. The House submitted theirs. The Senate has not submitted one in over two years.

    This is not a deflection. Budgets are part of the problem. They don’t want to have to argue their side and convince voters why we need to spend MORE to lessen a debt. What happens if we don’t raise it? Depends upon what the Congress does. Serious people would make sure that we don’t default by prioritizing payments from our income. But then, serious people would not have raise our debt to equal our GDP over the course of the last 3 years.

  4. You want him to submit his own budget? He would probably do an excellent job.

    The problem is, the debt ceiling needs to be raised so the country can carry on business. How dare people like Cantor put us all at risk like that.

    It has to be done. He knows it has to happen and he is posturing. Meanwhile, the job markets, the stock market and everything else is all jumpy over the possibility that we might default on our obligations. We have to pay back. Why would Cantor and crew relegate us to having to pay back at a higher interest rate?

    What happens? For starters, interest rates on national debt will in all probability go up. Do you really think that is a good idea?

    Serious people–would you have had us go into bona fide depression?

    Are you seriously telling me that all this debt is just the past 3 years?

    I can’t have this conversation.

  5. Dan Cooper

    “How dare people like Cantor put us all at risk like that. ” – Hmmm… my counter argument would be how dare people like Pelosi put us all at risk but adding 5 TRILLION to the nations debt while she was speaker? How dare Obama put us all at risk by adding more to our nations debt than all presidents before him combined?

    Look, you and your generation are not going to pay off this debt, me and my generation are not going to pay off this debt, my 2 year old son and his kids and his grandchildren are going to be faced with paying off this debt. How dare WE do that to them, it’s disgusting. Which is why I’m not a Democrat or Republican, both are guilty of spending spending and more spending. I’m a fiscal conservative in hopes that we can turn this mortal sin around that we have committed against our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and so on.

    The Americans who have yet been born are going to be forced to deal with this mess. So, I suppose Planned Parenthood is good for one thing, at least they can put those who have yet to be born out of their misery before their life even starts. Maybe D’s should use that angle for sending them tax $’s.

    1. @Dan, you are still paying for WWII. So am I. I expect your kid will be too. That’s just the way it works. For all I know, I am paying for Depression projects also. Let’s consider the price of not fighting WWII. Do you want to speak German-ese? Do a little history on national debt. I don’t think that we have ever been out of debt but once, very briefly, since the nation formed.

      What you very cleverly left off was the cost of waging 2 wars in this century. Do you think that was free? Make sure you hang the entire cost on Pelosi. How on earth did she get in the story? Was she involved in the budget talks when Cantor and crew walked out? Bet she didn’t go with them.

      That is what we call a deflection. I hold Cantor accountable for walking out and you start blather about Pelosi. Cantor needs to get in there and get this worked out. The debt ceiling has to be raised. To imagine it doesn’t is dangerous thinking.

  6. The debt ceiling does not need to be raised to “carry on business.” We have an income from assorted taxes that can pay any debt service. The job markets, etc are all jumpy because the stock market likes cheap money, and the job market is afraid of what Obama’s new regulations on energy, unions, and healthcare will do to their bottom line.

    If we increase the debt ceiling the interest rates will go up. We are BUYING OUR OWN DEBT now. No one wants our debt. We are spending too much. China is divesting itself of our debt.

    So, yes, I wouldn’t mind if Mark Warner submitted his own budget. Why not? He’s a businessman. But, it would mean going against his leader….um…whoever that’s supposed to be “leading” but is hiding under the bed……

  7. @Moon-howler
    What you very cleverly left off was the cost of waging 2 wars in this century. Do you think that was free? Make sure you hang the entire cost on Pelosi.

    The costs of the ONE war, in two theaters, approved by Congress, is small potatoes compared to the total deficit spending since 2009.

    Pelosi gets blamed because it was HER 2009 fiscal year budget that she did not submit for approval to Bush, but waited until Obama came in, to get it signed. She TRIPLED the deficit in ONE year. In the 2008 budget, the deficit was getting smaller, even with the war. Suddenly, it shot up because the Democrats took over both houses.

    Tripled the deficit. In one year.
    And it has continued that way since. And the Democrats were too cowardly to submit budgets that could be argued.

    So, yes, it is Pelosi’s fault along with Reid. And when Obama took office…him.

    If we continue to raise the debt ceiling, where does it stop? The CBO has already stated that in the next few decades, the debt service will equal our GDP.

  8. Kelly3406

    If Warner were so worried about the debt, he should not have voted for Obamacare. It’s too late for him to transform into a fiscal conservative following his voting record in the previous Congress. I want to believe him, but his sudden concern for our fiscal well being seems a trifle political.

  9. You all are really making me very glad I voted as I did.

    I don’t suppose it ever crossed your mind that the policies put into place by a Republican president were really the engine driving the train. We had the worst recession since the great depression. I have never watched the stock market drop 800 points in one day.

    I am grateful that the people were in power who could make decisions that kept that country from spiraling into disaster. I am grateful I didn’t take any worse of a hit than I did and it wasn’t become some numb skull was calling the shots. Thank goodness Bush and then Obama had people in place who didn’t just let the country slide down the tubes.

    I have been told by people who know much more about this than I ever will that I will never know how close we all were to biting the big one.

    Mark Warner has an excellent track record in Virginia. You ought to listen to him rather than give him silly-ass assignments. Again, who did your party offer up? You know, I can’t even remember. That’s how unremarkable the candidate was.

    I am tired of every Democrat mentioned being trashed and slashed. Surely you could find something to say about Mark Warner instead of acting like you know more about running finance than he does. He is only one of the more popular governors in the history of the state. He is popular with people in both parties because he knows what he is doing.

  10. Pat.Herve

    oh, the misinformation that is spread around is just unbelievable.

    1. Pat, I generally agree with you. This time is no exception.

  11. Um, please show me where I trashed Warner? All I said was that I would take him seriously on the budget and the debt ceiling when the Senate actually writes one. And since he is a Senator, he has that power to present one.

    Other than that, I didn’t say anything about him.

    The Senate has not presented a budget in over two years. They have abrogated their Constitutional responsibilities. If a Republican Senator could get one through committee, I want them to put one forward too. I’m not happy with the the GOP Senators too. They are not fighting hard enough to get cuts done.

    And since neither party in either the House or the Senate could even cut ONE FREAKING PERCENT of the budget in the LAST talks, I’m fed up with their excuses. What will be their excuse when we reach the next debt ceiling? I think the plan for the Democrats is to try to ride this out until the election, which they are going to lose, and then, let it all crash down, just so they can point fingers at the GOP. Raising the debt ceiling by their desired amount covers one more round of 1.5 trillion in borrowing, ie next years deficit. And then they’re going to force the GOP to do the austerity measures when they take over the Senate next year.

  12. Pat.Herve

    I think the plan for the Democrats is to try to ride this out until the election, which they are going to lose, and then, let it all crash down, just so they can point fingers at the GOP – Isn’t that what the last administration did…..

    They created a housing bubble and watched it till it got out of control. Unemployment sky high, financial crisis, unfunded wars (borrowing to pay for it), Etc.

  13. Dan Cooper

    @Dan Cooper
    I see Moon, so you have no problem with dumping the burden of bailout after bailout, failed stimulus and the like on generation after generation after generation of Americans that haven’t even been born yet. I get it, that is you, if you feel fine with that morally that’s you. I don’t, maybe that is the difference between us.

    I just happen to have the crazy notion that we should leave this country in better shape then when we got here for the next generation.

    1. @Dan

      Good luck on that.

      I don’t think it has a thing to do with morals. I think it has to do with necessity. Of course, I haven’t sat around whining about having to pay off WWII debt my entire working life. I think that is probably a major difference between us. I was just darn glad that all that debt was incurred so I could live in freedom and speak English. Silly me. I guess I was just too lazy to learn Japanese or German at the end of a sword.

      When you keep talking about ‘bail out after bail out’ it trumpets that you really don’t understand a lot of what was happening and the consequences of doing nothing.

      Every American has inherited debt from previous generations.

  14. Dan Cooper

    “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies.” – Senator Barack Obama, March 16, 2006

    Please do me one favor Moon… please argue against 2006 Obama’s comment on raising the debt ceiling.

  15. Dan Cooper

    @Moon-howler
    Quite honestly Moon you may be right, maybe I “really don’t understand a lot of what was happening and the consequences of doing nothing”. Your obviously more experienced in that area than I am, the Democrats have “done nothing” for quite some time now. When was the last time they even passed a budget by the way?

    I’m just a simple early 30’s father who thinks by raising the debt ceiling “we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies”, as a great man once said. Call me stupid but that is how I feel. I think we are doing a GREAT disservice to our children and grandchildren and so on and I think that should stop, NOW.

    However, you seem to have side stepped my one and only favor of you… Please offer any argument to this statement:

    “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies.” – Senator Barack Obama, March 16, 2006

    1. Dan, no, I am not more experienced. I am probably more open minded and less likely to do the chicken little thing.

      Probably no one regrets saying that debt ceiling thing more than Obama.

      Why do you get to tell me what I argue in favor of? I am still stuck on that part.

      National debt isn’t the end all be all. We have always had it. We need to reduce it, but not at the expense of a nation. If your family goes into debt, you cut back where you can. You don’t go out and live in the woods until it is paid back.

  16. Dan Cooper

    Also, as a side note… I find it kind of odd you would say:

    “I was just darn glad that all that debt was incurred so I could live in freedom and speak English. Silly me. I guess I was just too lazy to learn Japanese or German at the end of a sword.”

    Do you think the same way about Spanish?

  17. Dan Cooper

    although not by the end of a sword off-course but by our own leaders total and complete incompetence.

  18. Dan Cooper

    When my family is in debt and I hit my credit card ceiling do I go over that ceiling? What do you have a celing for? To make sure you don’t get into debt you can’t handle. Right?

    You still have yet to offer any counter argument for 2006 Obama, I don’t mean to keep pestering you on this but saying Obama has more regrets than anyone is not an argument. That is your opinion on what Obama’s potential regrets are, you have no clue as to what that could be.

    Just please… pretty please with sugar on top offer one, just one, argument against raising the debt ceiling according to 2006 Obama. Here is the quote again:

    “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies.” – Senator Barack Obama, March 16, 2006

  19. Pat.Herve

    Dan Cooper :
    When my family is in debt and I hit my credit card ceiling do I go over that ceiling? What do you have a celing for? To make sure you don’t get into debt you can’t handle. Right?
    You still have yet to offer any counter argument for 2006 Obama, I don’t mean to keep pestering you on this but saying Obama has more regrets than anyone is not an argument. That is your opinion on what Obama’s potential regrets are, you have no clue as to what that could be.
    Just please… pretty please with sugar on top offer one, just one, argument against raising the debt ceiling according to 2006 Obama. Here is the quote again:
    “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies.” – Senator Barack Obama, March 16, 2006

    Unfortunately, on a personal level, many Americans go get another credit card, and when they are out of options, they go get two new cars, and file for bankruptcy – and get another credit card. sigh.

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