Government has ability to pay its bills

If we don’t raise the debt ceiling is the government really going to default on its debt? Is the government really totally out of money? According to columnist Eugene Robinson there is $306 billion in bills and only $172 billion in revenue. Of course there is the $251 billion in unspent stimulus. So it is not like there is not money out there to pay our bills. There is money there.

The argument is really about how the money is going to be spent or how much more money is going to be spent. So it is somewhat laughable when the president and columnists like Mr. Robinson hint that Social Security checks might not go out, Medicare bills might not be paid or the military might not get paid. Can you just imagine us defaulting on our debt or not paying the elderly or military while the money essentially sits in another bank account?

Of course the president has refused to consider the notion that we might be able to use stimulus money to pay off the debt. Is it because this money has actually been stimulating the economy? Not that I have seen.

The president has no intention of cutting off funds to the people that are so important to his next election. No, it is easier to sit back and blame Republicans for being unreasonable and unwilling to negotiate. In the same breath the president says that it is not an option to pass a temporary debt-ceiling increase while the two sides continue to negotiate on budget cuts because then Congress would have to vote on another increase before next year’s election. By then the president is hoping that we will forget all about the deficit.

Scott Schmidt

Arlington Heights