Jared Bernstein’s Getting Nervous About Aug. 2 “But I Think We Will Have a Deal”

dick cheney said reagan proved deficits dont matter. is this no longer the gospel of the republican party?

Ever notice how 100% of bankers and Wall Street types are panicked over the prospect of not raising the debt ceiling? What does that tell you?

The real headline is getting buried here - Eric Cantor is done. He's finished. He had a seat at the big boys' table and he blew it. They are now going to go around him. "Enough is enough." They're done trying to negotiate with him. He just doesn't realize it yet. The "Gang of 6" will hack something out or the President will bypass Congress and sign an extension based on the 14th amendment...the details don't matter. Cantor is finished.

What will follow is the eventual fraying of the Tea Party. First, they'll try to disown Cantor, then, as it starts to sink in what's happening, they'll turn on each other; the 2012 Republican Convention will be a fractured mess, etc.

Speaking as a moderate here, the sad thing is that the Tea Party had the right idea and a lot of good energy; they just didn't understand democracy.

The pub leader Eric Cantor doesn't want a deal. He has a short position on US treasuries that'll make him some $ if the US defaults.

The thing that amazes me the most is just how frightened the Republican Party is of the Tea Party.
Maybe, they should remember what is happening in the WI Recall Elections, and realize that people are getting pretty tired of the "Political Games" and the "Extreme Right" and the "Extreme Religious Right" who seem to be in the lofty position of having God speak to them daily. I think they have a few surprises waiting when they hit the Pearly Gates.
You can bet that the Gov. of WI will be on the recall list as soon as his time hits 1 year. The latest Recall Election in WI, the Democrat defeated the Republican (being recalled) by 2:1.

Many in the Republican Party seem to be willing to sell this country down the toilet just to satisfy their Fringe Base, and remember that only 27% (Source: Pew Polls) of American voters are actually registered Republicans these days.
"The Democratic Party has also built a substantial edge among independent voters. Of the 37% who claim no party identification, 15% lean Democratic, 10% lean Republican, and 12% have no leaning either way. "
Those who actually say, "just let the U.S. Default" show an ignorance of the Financial World that is blatant, and this ignorance is very, very dangerous. Read what Larry Summers said this a.m. regarding this issue.
The Gang of 6 are actually coming up with some good ideas, and Coburn's Back to Black Plan is a very good place to start as it addresses both sides of the ledger.

Hooray! We're only going to take on 10 trillion dollars in new debt instead of 13 trillion over the next ten years!! Happy days are here again! Break out the champagne!!
Bunch of clowns...

You want scary this is freightening. To sustain the current rate of deficit spending the national debt will need to be increased $2 TRILLION dollars just to make it next election. If by chance Obama and the democrats get re-elected in 2012 it will need to be increased $9 TRILLION. That means that at the end of 2016 the national debt would be about $23 TRILLION dollars. The path is unsustainable and the time to act is now.

wonder if we can get the democrats to vote none of the above like the republicans have?

There can always be found useful idiot zealots to carry out our plans.

They are able to purchase our "leaders" and dupe society into embracing it's own downfall.

There are no coincendences, just the ILLUSION of coincendences.

Always a plan, same schemes, same bloodlines, different generation.

We are quite older than you will ever know.

Back during Regans time our debt was not as large a percentage of GDP as it is now. In addition Regan was pro American and we now have a Pro World President.

Yes what are the numbers.... please! I heard a vague reference but nothing specific... Good job trying to rope him down Aaron but it wasn't going anywhere...

Anybody who thinks that this puts even a minor dent into our problems simply doesnt understand what our problems are. We are in debt to the tune of 100% of our GDP. Even if this "aggressive" plan is implemented, we will be 180-200% of our GDP in debt in 10 years. (Greece's ratio currently is 160%) And thats if interest rates dont rise, which is very unlikely. Raising taxes might generate another 100 billion in revenue, but we are currently overspending by 10 times that much. We need to cut spending DEEPLY and NOW, or we simply wont survive as a nation. Denying this fact isnt getting us anywhere. Look around you: the places where spending could be cut are easy to find -- the military, the Wilfred Brimley Medicare industries, the "disabled", loopholes, subsidies, foreign aid,... I could go on and on. Lets just fix it and stop tolerating the inertia...

Where did Yahoo finance find this idiot? These freaks who try to tell us that cutting government spending is radical, and increasing taxes is the way to go. Can you say Cut, Cap, and Balance! Very simple and you don't need to hire idiots to sell your idea on Yahoo Finance!

There was an election in November 2006 - the public showed big spending republicans the door. No one cared what the alternative was, just throw the bums out!
There was an election last November. The "wide-eyed radical" republicans crushed, mostly due to the Tea Party movement. Sounds like the repubs got the message. Now you want them to compromise with the guys that were essentially rejected 8 months ago by the American public??

Bill Clinton would have embraced the Tea Party agenda, declared "the era of big government is over", and taken credit for bring back fiscal sanity.

(Wow. The Daily Ticker has such a consistent bias lately)

Good post, Norman K

Did the world end during the September 1995 to March 1996 Debt ceiling crisis? Nope and guess what we survived 6 months. Start worrying in Jan 2012.

Hey, Scott B
I also hope that Obama finally becomes a leader and not a passive-agressive, as he has been on many issues.
The Coburn Plan is pretty close to what he put forth with the $4T reduction in the deficit, but also with off-setting Revenue Increases, and sensible adjustments to SS and Medicare, such as Means Testing for "people like me", as he stated.
Take care.

Jared Bernstein is just another liberal tax and spend Democrat. He could care less how huge the national debt gets.

The 1984 Deficit Reduction Act was a drop in the bucket. It changed some accounting writeoff issues, depreciation etc. To suggest that it was a MAJOR deficit reducer is ridiculous. Our current deficit is over A TRILLION DOLLARS!!. Thats $3500 per citizen or 14 grand per family of 4. There is NO WAY I can afford that!! CUT THE CRAZY SPENDING!!!!!!

The Daily Ticker has lost its compass. There are enough political shouting match shows available elsewhere.