Proposal for a 28th Amendment

HEARTLESS wrote: Doesn't it bother you to be lock-step, and incapable of individual thought?

HEARTLESS wrote: major, what may be most important is debt to gdp. When we've gone too far, as Greece did, we're over the edge. Healthy economies are no more than 20% debt to gdp. We're already past that..

major bean wrote:

HEARTLESS wrote: major, what may be most important is debt to gdp. When we've gone too far, as Greece did, we're over the edge. Healthy economies are no more than 20% debt to gdp. We're already past that..

That is also my understanding, but economists are saying that if we refuse to raise the debt ceiling, then there is going to be a horrible economic crash. This baffles me and I need to come to grips with what variables are in play here.

AP
Obama: Raise debt ceiling or risk global recession by Ben Feller, Friday, April 15, 2011
CHICAGO -- Failure by Congress to raise the U.S. debt limit "could plunge the world economy back into recession," President Barack Obama declared Friday, and he acknowledged that he must compromise on spending with Republicans who control the House to avoid such a crisis.

April 14, 2011
Geithner: Debt default would hurt global economy
CBS News talks to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on the consequences of government not raising debt ceiling
By Anthony Mason
(CBS News) And now comes the next big battle over money -- it involves raising the nation's debt ceiling. That's the amount of money the government is allowed to borrow. Think of it as the credit limit on your credit card. Right now, Uncle Sam's limit is $14.29 trillion. But he's already borrowed $14.26 trillion, meaning he's just $30 billion away from having his credit cut off.

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The control room of the American debt machine is the U.S. Treasury's Auction Room, where it borrows billions every week from investors in the U.S. and around the world to keep the American government running. But if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling, the Treasury's credit card would hit its limit. The room would shut down. And the U.S. government could go into default, CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason reports.


"The consequences of that would be catastrophic to the United States," Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said in testimony to Congress.