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Subscribe to RSSA $1 trillion platinum coin will not be minted as a way of sidestepping the debt ceiling, the Treasury and the White House said Saturday.
The idea has been floated as a way to avoid a bruising fight in Congress over raising the ceiling. Among the proponents is Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman.
“By minting a $1 trillion coin, then depositing it at the Fed, the Treasury could acquire enough cash to sidestep the debt ceiling — while doing no economic harm at all,” Krugman said in a column in The New York Times.
But the White House and the Treasury nixed that on Saturday.
"Neither the Treasury Department nor the Federal Reserve believes that the law can or should be used to facilitate the production of platinum coins for the purpose of avoiding an increase in the debt limit," Treasury spokesman Anthony Coley said.
And the White House said in a statement issued by Press Secretary Jay Carney: "There are only two options to deal with the debt limit: Congress can pay its bills or it can fail to act and put the nation into default. When Congressional Republicans played politics with this issue last time, putting us at the edge of default, it was a blow to our economic recovery, causing our nation's credit rating to be downgraded. ... Congress needs to do its job."
Proponents of the coin have said they want to avoid a repeat of the near-self-induced default by the U.S. Treasury in July 2011. That battle caused the stock market to fall, cost the U.S. its Triple-A credit rating and produced the still ticking “fiscal cliff" budget time bomb.
The government has hit its $16.4 trillion borrowing limit, The Associated Press notes, and could begin running out of money by late February or early March.
On Friday, Senate Democratic leaders urged President Barack Obama to act unilaterally to increase the nation's debt limit, without congressional approval. But the White House has been loath to assert broad executive privilege to increase the amount of money the government is able to borrow in order to cover its obligations.
NBC News' John Schoen and Michael O'Brien contributed to this report.
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It's always funny to me to hear liberals bitch about "unfunded wars".
I love it.
Since Obama and Timmy have been in office already we have printed out one trillion dollars in unbacked bills to
pay for Obama's spending habits.
At least the wars were making money for the soldiers and the people that kept them supplied with weapons ammunition, food etc.
AND created jobs.
So you like unfunded wars, where the bozo also gives tax cuts at the same time?
Obama just signed into law the biggest tax cut in U.S. history and has had a $1 trillion plus budget deficit every year for four years. That makes Obama a much bigger bozo than GWB, doesn't ???
That and he cut over $145.00 OUT of my paycheck PER MONTH.
Perhaps that's going towards the platinum.
It is going to Social Security and you never should have seen that $145/mo to begin with. All it did was hurt Social Security and did nothing to stimulate the economy because too little of the extra in paychecks was actually spent on goods and services to increase demand.
I know where it's going.
But it's gone.
AND the money should never have been pilfered from the SS fund in the first place.
BUT, both parties over the years can take the blame for that.
I see no tax offset for it though.
And now because of Obamacare, I will see my health insurance go up.
if thats what the new chief of treasury department ordered the trillions to be made platinum is preciuos so nomber one when does the mint start paying the bills anyway once again and create the these in ingots and what the hell and heaven do the look like they must be very large so that there worth that much capital owned souly by the federal government iam sure well know where everone of them jones are
Congress hasn't passed a budget in years, effectively tying the ship's wheel to maintain the status quo. Now they want to effectively drop an anchor to alter their bearing. This is not a left or right issue, this is simply the culmination of years of stupidity.
Explain "continuing resolution".
Look up the words as you are from AZ and it's schools, and don't know many words over two syllables .
The House of Representatives has passed a budget for at least the last two years under leadership of Boehner. It is the Senate, under Reid, that has not passed a budget in three years.
Peter, the crap coming out of the House wasn't fit for to pass out of an outhouse. It stood no chance.
You notice Lyin Ryan has gone into hiding since he lost his butt in Nov? After his nutty budgets made it to the cartoon channel!
It stood no chance. Boy you are stupid.
The Ryan budgets are about to be implemented. Obama threw liberals/progressives under the bus by signing huge tax cuts into law that will add an additional $4 trillion to our national debt over the next 10 years. Obama made happen what Republicans have wanted over the last 12 years, he made 99.3% of the Bush Tax Cuts "permanent". With all those tax cuts now made permanent, all the Republicans need to do is sit back and laugh as Obama squirms. He will be forced to make spending cuts he doesn't want, but he'll have no choice. You cannot fund "big government" with such a low amount of tax revenue, and the only place to get it now is the middle class. That will not happen. LOL
Steve"AZ Short bus" Phoenix. It CLEARLY stood no chance, or did it pass and get signed?
Peter17,
He may make cuts in areas the Republicans don't like either but that really doesn't matter. In reality all he can do is sign or veto what the Congress sends him. He can propose cuts but Congress does not have to agree. He may have a chance to exercise leadership by getting the Republicans to agree to spending reductions in their favorite areas while he offers up some in areas of concern to him. Alas, I don't see that actually happening. He may indeed make a balanced cuts proposal but it would be defeated by the Democratic Senate and the Republican House because neither side will likely approve cuts to their sacred cows.
Mikey -
I don't see Obama even proposing any cuts - except to defense, the one budget item mandated by the Constitution. Considering that defense is less than 20% of the budget, even cutting defense to zero would not stop the deficit spending that Obama wants on entitlements.
Face it, it is entitlements - which make up about 60% of the budget - which need to be cut. Personally, I would like to see 20% across the board each year for the next 3-4 years, but it won't happen. Heck, the first year alone could be done with just cutting waste, fraud, and duplication!
Discussions about the sequester have not yet begun. That is where I expect to see some horse trading if both sides are truly serious about finding alternate cuts.
As an aside, did you read Marshal Auerback's essay on deficits and what has happened each time in history that the government had enough surplus to pay down the national debt? It seems to fly in the face of conventional economic wisdom but unless there is some common factor he failed to recognize, it makes you go "huh?".
What’s the point of even having a Congress if the Democrats keep urging Obama to Executive Order everything to go around Congress?
Someone needs to burn the EO pad of paper and drain the ink out of Obama’s pen.
How many Executive Orders did GW sign in his first term.
As a product of AZ schools, you can count past 100, right?
Is that all you can say is dumb this dumb that boy. You are slow in the head. Come up with something then being stupid hillbilly.
You are the biggest moron here Herron.
Try not to let him get to you Steve.
He thinks he's good at that too.
Your right
Steve, oh Genius. How many Executive Orders did that fine GW Bush sign and put into his fantastic history of fine laws?
Who cares?
We are concerned about the present now.
And not overly concerend about you.
viewer, because the numbers make you look silly! It's so easy to do!
YOU talk numbers?
Where did you go to school?
We were talking about one trillion dollars unbacked in paper already printed.
And the possibility of one magic coin for the same amount.
Add it up junior.
I could care less about exectuvtive orders from the past.
I care about now.
Steve,
He is limited in what he can issue an Executive Order to do. He most certainly cannot issue an Executive Order that would usurp a power specifically vested in the Congress by the Constitution. Were he to do so, it would be a slam dunk in the courts to have it overturned.
Yeah, but it doesn't mean that he won't try it.
Alright, look at this issue without emotion or political bias. It will go down to the wire again just because that's the way congress wants it. We might as well get used to it.
It has little to do with congress.
Congress is trying to fix the broken things.
That is why they are the bad guys in liberal eyes.
The say NO for good reason.
Not to start an argument but if you read my post you'll notice it was apolitical. And yes, I agree with you Viewer_Ready that congress is just doing their job. I wish the Fourth Estate would do more in depth reporting like this Fortune article from 1934.
The only strategy to force government to stop the crazed spending is to NOT raise the debt ceiling and make Congress and the executive branch agree on what amount government can we afford. Raising the debt limit is another kick down the road. Living off CRs, issuing more debt, raising punitive taxes, infinite QE and magic trillion coins are banana republic strategies that will eventually lead to collapse. The only sound strategy is to stop the stupid spending, deregulate our economy and grow our way back to prosperity; the way we used to do it before the NeoMarxists took over.
You STILL have NO concept of that the debt ceiling is!
Dang, you FLUNKED AZ schools because they were too hard!
You don't even know what a debt ceiling is boy. No wonder why lot of people here think you are a moron.
Hell NO, That would give me the right to write a bad check to pay my bills.... Get off your ASS and pay some back instead of borrow borrow ,, If they wolud learn not to piss it away they would have money .........
The debt limit is used to PAY BACK money already spent.
Herron, the debt limit IS to pay back money already spent.
But if you raise it.
Liberals will only spend more.
We do not need to raise the limit now.
We need to cut back spending and add jobs.
And not the "shovel ready" crap Obama tried to push.
If we need to tighten belts and bite the bullet, so be it.
You pay what you owe first, and then raise your OWN limits after the debt is paid.
NOT before.
Viewer,
What is it that adds jobs to the economy? Why does a business hire more workers? How do you compensate for the removal of $1 Trillion in demand for goods and services and simultaneously create even more demand?
You don't.
If you can't pay your bills what do you do?
You increase income (revenue) cut costs (spending).
Or you default and start all over.
And what adds jobs to the economy is a demand for investment.
You cannot get that in a liberal enviroment.
Is making fake money the answer?
All money is fake to a certain extent. What actually creates new money? How does an economy grow when the total money supply is fixed in size? Money itself is an artificial construct to facilitate trade. Think about a barter economy when you need something made by person A but that person does not need what you make. You may need to go through several rounds of barter exchanges with different people before finally have something to trade to person A for what you want. Money is simply an object of an agreed upon value that people can use in lieu of bartering.
..."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 US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government'sreckless fiscal policies. Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, "the buck stops here." Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better."
~ Senator Barack H. Obama, March 2006
Thank you Senator for your infinite wisdom! hahahahaha
I feel for the AstroTurf right, strangely enough; the choice at this juncture is losing because they've antagonized voters, or losing because they acted with honor- thereby antagonizing the sociopaths currently funding them.
True conservatives are in no danger at all of losing their positions- because they remained faithful to the traditional precepts of the Republican Party- and avoided entanglement with the lunatic fringes owned by wealth, racism, and religion.
I love this idea! I mean why not create a trillion dollar coin? What is the difference between that and the fed printing up a trillion dollars every quarter to keep the fake economy going? While we are at it lets just print up enough trillion dollar coins to completely get rid of the deficit altogether?
Wipe the slate clean and call it a day. The government needs to declare bankruptcy and start from scratch anyhow....Oh wait, that would be too easy and solve the problem at hand.
Most of our national debt is held by U.S. citizens, pension funds, etc. The Social Security Trust Fund alone has about $2.6 trillion invested in U.S. Treasuries. Still think it is a good idea??
Peter. Read the 14th Amendment. The "full faith and credit" clause!
You don't even know what the 14th Amendment is & your telling other people to read it.
Will Turtleman McConnell introduce another bill on the debt limit and then filibuster his own bill?
That was SO funny, yet so typical with the GOP today!
I am not an intelagent person just a vetnam vet.
I know what happens when i dont or cant pay my bills, no water, no phone, no electric and it goes on from there. talk about minting a coin, where do we get THAT money from? barrow from who? and then we cant pay so we belong to them?
donkey or elephant what does it matter? we the people are the ones that have to pay. stop bashing and name calling. what ever party you are cont your elected and DONT ASK tell them this is the way it is going to be or you are no longer employed then stick by what you said. we the people have to act. Yes obama got put back in office no i was not impressed but have to live with it. IF YOU DONT LIKE WHAT IS GOING ON HERE (AND I DONT THEN FIND A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE) I DONT BUT AS OF THIS TIME I KNOW ANY BETTER PLACE TO LIVE SO I TRY AND MAKE A DIFFERANCE BY TAKLING TO THE PEOPLE THAT WE VOTED IN
I found this national debt, doubled, wrapped in a big bow waiting for me as I stepped into the Oval Office.
Barack Obama
Is he talking about his second term? HAHAHAHAHAHA
Dont even worry about raising the debt ceiling, let obama take the hit for this. his progressive stance will ruin him.
he will be known as the first black president who screwed the country.
Republicans got more than they ever dreamed of with respect to tax cuts in the deal just signed by Obama. 99.3% of taxpayers saw their 2001 Bush Tax cut rates made permanent, only 0.7% are impacted, and even billionaires now have lower tax rates than they did in 2000. That is only a fraction of the top 1%. Republicans have been trying to make these temporary taxes permanent for almost 12 years. Bush2 has a big smile on his face this week.
but this cost the tax-payer another $75 billion in spending for the tax breaks for big hollywood progressives.
good to see the ole' scratch my back. i scratch yours still continues under the obama administration.
a man who promised change and an end to lobbyist.
LMFAO.
GOP, please do not give into Odumbo's out of control spending. Just because he wants to act like a n*gger on payday, don't let him take the rest of the country down.
Let me give you a check drawn on my nonexistant funds in the Third National Bank of Hoboken for your Escalade.
Don't worry, the check is as good as a trillion dollar coin.
Just amazes me on the lack of civic knowledge you people have. How does the president spend the money? Only congress can spend the money. With 378 fillibusters in his first administration. Where did this debt come from. Seems Congress knows the answer. But Congress and Fox will never let your brain gain knowledge. They got you where they want you.
dont work that way buddy.
no matter how you look at it, obama is responsible, he is the man, the head cheese, he takes the hit for any and all spending during his tenure.
the days of blaming bush are over.
No that is the way this country works. Check out the constitution. Oh that's probably to much for your brain.
In 2009 & 2010, Reid & Pelosi provided plenty of big spending legislation for Obama to sign. Then Obama simply handed out all that money to his buddies, like Solyndra. If it were not for Boehner taking control of the House in 2011, our debt problem would be even worse than it currently is.
For the most part it is Congress that passes legislation authorizing spending (if signed by the Pres.) and it is the President and the Administrative Branch who spends it.
roger that peter, again the ole' scratch my back in play.
A Trillion dollar coin huh? Why not a 16 Trillion dollar coin while we are at it? Dumb is a does does but this one defies belief!!! The inevitable conclusion of our unsustainable national debt is disintegration of the Republic.
Against the Brains. How is life in the trailer park? Got your radio on and listening to any knowledge you might have go into your porta potty. Waste of talk!
is it hurting to see the truth boy?
What does Obama spend ? I guess just the smart part was wacked off! Bobit.
imagine this
obama thinking he can create some sort of magic coin to reduce his debt increases.
pure laughable
Mint 50 of them then we can all go on welfare.
I know the truth, brainwashing was not done to me. I was a Republican and a great supporter of Reagan. What an idiot I was. Glad I learned history civics and listen to non Corporate radio.
you mean how to be a progressive, cant earn things on your own, gotta have big brother give it to you.
This had to be Obamas idea to print a coin, he is a dumb ass as we are all learning!
Doesn't matter who's idea it was. You just called someone an idiot. Do you know why this was an idea though?