[smc]

Originally Posted by TracyCoxx

Jay Carney (White House press secretary) just said if we don't reach a deal by August 2nd, we will lose our borrowing authority.

Why is that? We do have enough money to pay the interest on the debt. If we don't do it, it's because the president and treasurer chose not to. And because Cut Cap and Balance got shot down in the senate, and congress won't come up with anything else sufficient, we're likely to get our credit rating downgraded.

But we will still be able to borrow, just at a higher rate. So why is the Carny lying?

More disingenuous text from Tracy Coxx. The legislation that creates each subsequent debt limit gives the Treasury Department "borrowing authority" up to that limit. The issue of having a downgraded credit rating is not as Tracy Coxx would have you believe -- simply a matter of paying more to borrow. Any reading of debt ceiling legislation over history will make this clear.