The best signal we could send to the world is to end the dysfunction in congress that folks like you promote. Money is so cheap for us to borrow right now that it is simply irresponsible to not put people to work rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure or would you rather wait until we have major power and transportation disruptions?

RE: "This would be the best signal we could send to the world."

The only signal that not raising our debt limit would send to the world is that the you-know-what is about to hit the fan. In other words, hello Great Depression 2.0.

Having a debt-limit at all is insane (and unique to the U.S.). The time to deal with spending issues in when appropriations bills and other spending legislation is passed. Passing appropriations that force us to reach an artificial, arbitrary limit, and then claiming "the debt limit made me do it" is weak tea indeed. If you want to cut Social Security, Medicare, and raise taxes on the middle class (and you do if you support Paul Ryan's budget), then run on those positions rather than hiding behind an arbitrary number that shouldn't even exist.

@ Brian

"Money is so cheap for us to borrow right now that it is simply irresponsible"
This may be truest text that you have ever typed.

Soooo
When do we as a country start to reduce spending, after interest rates RISE and the payments balloon???

As to the shovel ready transportation infrastructure improvements, didn't we DO that already too?

Government bonds are fixed rate (yield) and fixed term. If someone buys a 10 year bond with a 3% yield that means when the bond expires in 10 years we pay back the principal plus 3%. With rates as low as they are today most bonds have an adjusted for inflation negative yield. This means countries are willing to pay us to hold their money for them. It is stupid not to be borrowing money at those terms, especially considering how many people we could put to work on major infrastructure projects. The net result would be more short term debt, say a trillion or so, but it would be enough to get the economy growing again. The gains in infrastructure would be a huge bonus.

We tried to do shovel ready but the Pubs in congress insisted that a third of the Stimulus be tax breaks. Another big chunk went to revenue sharing programs with the states to save teachers and first responder jobs. Thanks to the GOP, the amount of shovel ready projects that came out of the Stimulus was a pittance of what was really needed.

Brian Crawford - you have to ask why money is so cheap right now before bounding off with these absurd assertions. Money is cheap because the Federal Reserve is artificially keeping interest rates low trying to initiate inflation. If interest rates were allowed to adjust to the markets, they would be much higher, precisely because there is so much money in the system.

The debt limit ceiling is a false flag and as David Hancock mentioned the only measure of true functionality is to control the spending. They could raise the debt ceiling limit to $100 trillion, but without controls on spending it just doesn't matter.

Servicing the debt is peanuts, the problem is the size of the debt. Most of the principal on the long term debt doesn't come due until 2031. You can ask your children and grandchildren how they like paying off the debt you allowed to accrue during your lifetime.

Rob Woodall voted to increase the debt ceiling and increase spending. Spending by this Republican house in the past two years has increased $1.9 trillion. If you keep voting for people like Rob Woodall, maybe we can get that to $5.0 trillion in the next two years.

Sabrina - Not only did Woodall vote to increase that debt limit, that bill also gave Obama the power to hike the debt ceiling on his own. Woodall also voted for a huge $1.4 billion transportation Bill and he voted for NDAA allowing for indefinite detention of American citizens. That is a violation of the 5th Amendment. Woodall has never been in the private sector except as an intern. Rob does not possess the judgement nor the intelligence to be our Congress person.

Thank you, Mr. Orr. I have been asked a number of times what I can do in Washington. By myself, not much. But I am counting on candidates all across this nation who have never held office and are committed to dismantling many of the programs, agencies, grants, subsidies and who knows what else to stop the spending and reduce the regulation. Imagine if we wake up the day after the election in November and we have 300 in Congress who have never served before. Who take out their Constitution, open to Article I Section 8 and start reading their job description. Citizens who don’t owe ‘favors’ to anyone in Washington and who want to serve for a few years and then let someone else take over. We could literally change the direction overnight. There is great hope, as you well know, thanks to the genius of the Founding Fathers who set up our great nation.

Short answer - cut everything. Reduce the size and scope of the Federal Government. Stop waste, fraud and abuse. Greatly reduce or eliminate agencies like DOE, DOCommerce, NEA, EPA, Fannie May Freddie Mac. Cut federal subsidies - energy, transportation, education. Bring in revenue by starting a new agency with the sole purpose of selling assets like land and unused federal buildings. Have every agency give a budget that includes a 10% cut. Have Congress take a 10% pay cut as well - there are no little spending cuts, just some that are bigger than others - and this will save over $9 million a year. If we can save $100 we should do so. Fix Social Security - divide people into age brackets. Older citizens, no change. Youngest group, private accounts. Maybe some in the middle you give the chance to opt out - the government keeps all the money they have put in but they don't get anything. I am 51 and even with as much as I have paid in if I knew the government wouldn't take any more from me for SS I would gladly walk away from the program. Maybe offer older Americans the chance to receive land instead of SS payments. Thee government certainly owns more land than it should. This is just what comes to mind first...
What ideas do you have? Add those to the list and let's get started.

You really think privatizing Social Security is a good idea? We've just created a generation of folks who's retirement plans were wiped out due to the volatility of private markets and who have negative equity in their homes. What about the defense budget, do we still need a cold war arsenal? And the biggest debt driver by far is Medicare, what's the plan there? Waste, fraud and abuse is a great place to start but Obama's already doing that. You want to cut education? You want to cut the DOE and EPA when one of our biggest challenges over the next few decades is the transition to renewable energy and and maintaining a livable environment where our drinking water doesn't burst into flames. A fire sale of government assets? I also didn't hear you mention taxes. What should we do there?

Brian Crawford - you have your cause and effect out of whack again. The volatility in the business sector is due specifically to the GOVERNMENT. The federal reserve and the bureaucrats writing regulations. If you get rid of all that, business would run very smoothly, there would be no inflation, and you savings will be worth when you put them in the bank.

You have forgotten the biggest cash hole is the U.S. military machine … why not be a real leader and start your cutting there…?

Every time the debt limit is reached it is extended. It is time to break the cycle that says we just borrow more money when we don't have enough to pay for the programs we want. All spending originates in the House. Stop the spending and there will be no need to increase the amount of debt. By definition, if you do not borrow any more money then you have a balanced budget. If you are able to actually start lowering the debt limit then you are running a surplus.

MEW, WHAT budget? Congressional Dems haven't given us one in years.

You seem to have a lot of answers. Why didn't you run?