Author Topic: The Debt Crisis - Rep Tom McClintock  (Read 2711 times)

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Online Lando Lincoln

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The Debt Crisis - Rep Tom McClintock
« on: October 16, 2013, 03:35:31 am »
http://mcclintock.house.gov/2013/10/the-debt-crisis.shtml

The Debt Crisis

October 14, 2013

 
Mr. Speaker:

 

   The debt limit exists for a simple reason: to assure that public debt isn’t recklessly piled up without Congress periodically acknowledging it and addressing the spending patterns that are causing it.  If a debt limit increase is supposed to be automatic, as the President suggests, there really is no purpose to it.

   A new dimension has now appeared in this discussion.  Unlike every one of his predecessors, this President has vowed that unless Congress unconditionally raises the debt limit, the United States will default on its sovereign debt.

   But a failure to raise the debt limit would not by itself cause the nation to default. The Government Accountability Office has consistently held that the Treasury Secretary has “the authority to choose the order in which to pay obligations of the United States” to protect the nation’s credit.  Such authority is inherent in the 1789 act that established the Treasury Department and entrusted it with the “management of the revenue” and the “support of public credit.”  The affirmative duty of the Treasury Department to do so is underscored by the 14th Amendment.

   Our revenues are more than ten times our debt payments, so paying the debt first to prevent a sovereign default is well within the financial ability of the federal government – and indeed, it is a fiscal imperative. 

   Earlier this year, the House passed HR 807, which not only explicitly requires the payment of the national debt in the case of an impasse over the debt limit, but even allows the President to exceed the debt limit itself in order to protect the nation’s credit.

   That measure languishes in the Senate under the threat of a Presidential veto.

   Protecting the sovereign credit by prioritizing payments would mean delaying paying other bills – which is untenable, unthinkable and something much to be avoided.  But it would not imperil the nation’s sovereign credit.  Only the President can do that. 

   The House leadership met with the President last week and offered to extend the debt limit until November 22nd with no strings attached.  The President refused.  Senate Republicans offered a six month extension, but the Senate Democratic leader refused. 

    What the President threatens to do would be catastrophic and unprecedented.  The full faith and credit of the United States is what gives markets the confidence to loan money to the federal government.  Even a credible threat of default – exactly the kind the President is now making -- could have dire consequences to a nation that now owes more than its entire economy produces in a year. 
   So where do we go from here? 

   Republicans have miscalculated on two key assumptions: First, that the Democrats would negotiate the issues that divide the country; they have not.  Second, that Democrats would seek to minimize the suffering caused by the impasse; they have not.   

   Given the ruthless and vindictive way the shutdown has been handled, I now believe that this President would willfully act to destroy the full faith and credit of the United States unless the Congress acquiesces to all of his demands, at least as long as he sees political advantage in doing so.  His every statement and action is consistent with this conclusion.   

   If the Republicans acquiesce, the immediate crisis will quickly vanish, credit markets will calm and public life will return to other matters. 

   But a fundamental element of our Constitution will have been destroyed.   The power of the purse will have shifted from the representatives of the people to the executive.  The executive bureaucracies will be freed to churn out ever more outlandish regulations with no effective Congressional review or check through the purse.  A perilous era will have begun, in which the President sets spending levels and vetoes any bill falling short of his demands.  Whenever a deadline approaches, one house can simply refuse to negotiate with the other until Congress is faced with the Hobson’s choice of a shut-down or a default. 

   The nation’s spending will again dangerously accelerate, the deficit will again rapidly widen, and the economic prosperity of the nation will continue to slowly bleed away. 

   This impasse may have started as a dispute over a collapsing health program but it has now taken on the dimensions of a Constitutional crisis. 

   Yesterday in Washington, a group of America’s veterans rose up to take a stand against these constitutional usurpations.  I believe the salvation of our nation now depends on the American people joining them.

There are some among us who live in rooms of experience we can never enter.
John Steinbeck

Online Lando Lincoln

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There are some among us who live in rooms of experience we can never enter.
John Steinbeck

Online Lando Lincoln

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Re: The Debt Crisis - Rep Tom McClintock
« Reply #2 on: October 16, 2013, 05:00:53 pm »
This is the floor speech that Mark Levin has referenced yesterday and today.  The money line:

Yesterday in Washington, a group of America’s veterans rose up to take a stand against these constitutional usurpations.  I believe the salvation of our nation now depends on the American people joining them.
There are some among us who live in rooms of experience we can never enter.
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Re: The Debt Crisis - Rep Tom McClintock
« Reply #3 on: October 16, 2013, 06:06:52 pm »
Great speech from a Representative previously unknown to me.  Thanks for posting.  Wish all would take a moment to listen.

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Re: The Debt Crisis - Rep Tom McClintock
« Reply #4 on: October 16, 2013, 06:14:52 pm »
Great speech from a Representative previously unknown to me.  Thanks for posting.  Wish all would take a moment to listen.

Tom McClintock is a truly GREAT man who fought what is happening California for years before getting elected to congress! He's one of the good guys for sure!
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- J. R. R. Tolkien

Offline massadvj

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Re: The Debt Crisis - Rep Tom McClintock
« Reply #5 on: October 16, 2013, 06:26:40 pm »
Tom McClintock is a truly GREAT man who fought what is happening California for years before getting elected to congress! He's one of the good guys for sure!

I remember him from when he ran against Ahnold for governator in the GOP primary of... whenever it was.  I was a Freeper way back then.

Online Lando Lincoln

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Re: The Debt Crisis - Rep Tom McClintock
« Reply #6 on: October 16, 2013, 08:00:27 pm »
Great speech from a Representative previously unknown to me.  Thanks for posting.  Wish all would take a moment to listen.

Thanks.  Yes, it is worth the time.
There are some among us who live in rooms of experience we can never enter.
John Steinbeck

Offline Rapunzel

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Re: The Debt Crisis - Rep Tom McClintock
« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2013, 08:05:27 pm »
Great speech from a Representative previously unknown to me.  Thanks for posting.  Wish all would take a moment to listen.

Tom McClintock has been a firm conservative forever.  He was one of the candidates in the California recall election who was defeated by The Arnold for the GOP side... too bad Arnold won and McClintock lost, he was the last salvation California had left.
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

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Re: The Debt Crisis - Rep Tom McClintock
« Reply #8 on: October 16, 2013, 08:11:14 pm »
Tom McClintock has been a firm conservative forever.  He was one of the candidates in the California recall election who was defeated by The Arnold for the GOP side... too bad Arnold won and McClintock lost, he was the last salvation California had left.

Having lived in CA for more than a decade--the last years being in Leon Panetta's district--I'm afraid I have paid scant attention since those days to what that goofy state is up to.  So, in that respect, I am seriously derelict.  As I stated, I am pleased to learn more about this congressman, and will try to find out which district he represents.

Offline Rapunzel

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Re: The Debt Crisis - Rep Tom McClintock
« Reply #9 on: October 16, 2013, 08:13:27 pm »
He is in the California 4th district. 

�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

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Re: The Debt Crisis - Rep Tom McClintock
« Reply #10 on: October 16, 2013, 08:19:59 pm »
Rap:  Thank you.  That is a great service for me.  Looks like at first glance is well away from the coastal counties.

Offline Rapunzel

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Re: The Debt Crisis - Rep Tom McClintock
« Reply #11 on: October 16, 2013, 08:23:51 pm »
Rap:  Thank you.  That is a great service for me.  Looks like at first glance is well away from the coastal counties.

Yes, it is.  Alpine County, Amador County, Calaveras County, El Dorado County, Fresno County. Madera County, Mariposa County, Nevada County, Placer County, Tuolumne Co.

When you get away from the coastal areas and places with a lot of welfare takers like San Bernardino Country (Barstow, Needles, and even Victorville as well as some of the poor high desert comminities,  California is still pretty much a conservative state... 
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

famousdayandyear

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Re: The Debt Crisis - Rep Tom McClintock
« Reply #12 on: October 16, 2013, 08:50:17 pm »
Yes, it is.  Alpine County, Amador County, Calaveras County, El Dorado County, Fresno County. Madera County, Mariposa County, Nevada County, Placer County, Tuolumne Co.

When you get away from the coastal areas and places with a lot of welfare takers like San Bernardino Country (Barstow, Needles, and even Victorville as well as some of the poor high desert comminities,  California is still pretty much a conservative state... 

Just for the record.  My favorite place of all time (during that period in CA) was absolutely Placerville.  Always thought that would be a great place to live after my years toiling in Silicon Valley.

Offline Rapunzel

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Re: The Debt Crisis - Rep Tom McClintock
« Reply #13 on: October 16, 2013, 08:54:31 pm »
Just for the record.  My favorite place of all time (during that period in CA) was absolutely Placerville.  Always thought that would be a great place to live after my years toiling in Silicon Valley.

It's been years since I've been to Placerville... 
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline massadvj

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Re: The Debt Crisis - Rep Tom McClintock
« Reply #14 on: October 16, 2013, 09:01:05 pm »
It's been years since I've been to Placerville...

I sold real estate in the early 1990's in Cameron Park just up the road from there.  All of Placer County and the foothills is very nice living.  I also like the Kerrville area east of Bakersfield.  Remote, pretty, relatively cheap, great weather and less than 3 hours from LA if you ever want to go there.

Offline truth_seeker

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Re: The Debt Crisis - Rep Tom McClintock
« Reply #15 on: October 16, 2013, 09:26:00 pm »
McClintock was a state congressman from Ventura County. At the time four of the six southernmost coastal counties voted Republican.

San Diego, Orange, Ventura and San Luis Obispo voted GOP, while Lost Angeles and Santa Barbara voted democrat. Santa Barbara had sent conservatives to congress, too.

Since those days, San Diego, San Luis Obispo and Ventura have voted for Obama in 08 and 12.

Thinking about what takes place when a district/geographic region, shifts from GOP to democrat is worthy of understanding.

People can then ridicule others, be in denial, or decide an action plan to once again win the district.

McClintock picked a district including Sacramento, plus rural places to win. IOW he moved some distance from his home in Ventura county. Some accused him of carpet bagging at the time.
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Re: The Debt Crisis - Rep Tom McClintock
« Reply #16 on: October 16, 2013, 09:30:17 pm »
Great speech from a Representative previously unknown to me.  Thanks for posting.  Wish all would take a moment to listen.
I remember McClintock from ten years ago, during the California recall election. He ran in that election as the conservative alternative to Schwarzenegger (the liberal Republican) and Bustamante (the Democrat). He finished a respectable third, out of over 100 assorted kooks.
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Re: The Debt Crisis - Rep Tom McClintock
« Reply #17 on: October 16, 2013, 09:34:06 pm »
McClintock was a state congressman from Ventura County. At the time four of the six southernmost coastal counties voted Republican.

San Diego, Orange, Ventura and San Luis Obispo voted GOP, while Lost Angeles and Santa Barbara voted democrat. Santa Barbara had sent conservatives to congress, too.

Since those days, San Diego, San Luis Obispo and Ventura have voted for Obama in 08 and 12.

Thinking about what takes place when a district/geographic region, shifts from GOP to democrat is worthy of understanding.

People can then ridicule others, be in denial, or decide an action plan to once again win the district.

McClintock picked a district including Sacramento, plus rural places to win. IOW he moved some distance from his home in Ventura county. Some accused him of carpet bagging at the time.
To his credit, McClintock was a state legislator before becoming a Congressman, so there's a realistic probability he did live in Sacramento most of the time.
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