All Democrat Senators Voted Against Raising Debt Ceiling

Yep. In 2006, all but 3 republicans voted in favor of raising the debt ceiling. Only Conrad Burns of Montana, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, and John Ensign of Nevada voted against it.

In 2006 there was a republican in the White House and republican majorities in both the House and the Senate, rendering the Senate democrats’ no vote entirely symbolic; just more of the routine political posturing that’s continuously engaged in by both parties. Republican control of the situation was so total in 2006 that a House vote on raising the debt ceiling wasn’t even held. Instead, the House referred the entire matter to the republican-controlled Senate, by framing it as part of the previous year’s budget.

The difference this year is that there’s nothing at all symbolic about it. The House majority would actually be shutting down a large portion of federal government operations in a single stroke, virtually overnight, with little apparent thought about the immediate consequences. It’s almost as if they haven’t taken any time to run the hypothetical scenarios that could follow, or assume that something will stop them short of the moment they drop the match.

The truth of the matter is that if a political compromise isn’t reached, no one really knows for sure what will happen. Growing uncertainty on that point will likely be reflected in increasing anxiety and instability as the deadline approaches.

@Greg:

Forget about what the Dems/GOP did in the past, and forget about how they are ‘posturing'(nice word choice, btw) themselves this year.

The real issue is, and has been for decades, the out of control spending that has taken us closer to the breaking point than ever before. I will say, however, that if the issue had been addressed years and decades ago, rather than continually passed on down the road to the next group of hapless idiots, that we wouldn’t even be concerned about it now. But that is beside the point.

If the debt ceiling IS raised, that isn’t the end of it. The Treasury still needs the buyers for the debt. China seems reluctant to purchase any more, and the other entities that did so before, including the American public, is hardly in any position to do so. What then? Well, then the Fed Reserve commences QE3, printing money to buy up the debt, hoping they can sell it off quickly enough, and at a low enough interest rate so as not to hurt themselves. Unfortunately, there is several problems with this. One, the influx of more cash into the economy does nothing but lower the value of the dollar when compared to other strong currencies. Two, if the Fed cannot resell them at a low enough interest rate, they will raise their own rates that banks pay them for loans, which is then passed on to us, the consumer.

What we end up with is higher inflation and higher interest rates, in a period where the economy, even if one considers it a “recovery”, is still fragile.

Higher taxes, you say? Well, for one thing, the tax rates that Obama wants to raise would only net the Treasury around $5.8 Billion a month, and that would be with a somewhat decent economy with moderate economic growth(3% or so), and we aren’t close to that. The deficit this year is projected to be from $1.3-1.6 Trillion dollars. $70 Billion more in tax revenue from increases on the high income earners will not get us close to those figures.

The only answer is deep and meaningful cuts in all areas, including in some of the “untouchable” entitlement programs, like SS and Medicare.

So, answer me this question. Other than the tax hikes on the “rich”, what else have the liberal/progressives really put on the table to solve the problem? And let’s just get this straight, right now. The problem needs to be solved right now, because there isn’t going to be anyone there to bail us out, even halfway, like the European Union is for Greece.