From the office of U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski:
U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) issued the following statement on her vote to raise the debt ceiling and avoid default and downgrade:
“Through serious negotiation, leaders from both parties and the President have reached a bipartisan solution that will lift our debt ceiling and prevent a downgrade of our credit.
“Make no mistake. This agreement is stark and stern but necessary. It includes cuts that I would have never voted for under different circumstances. However, if we had failed to take action, the economy of the United States would have been irrevocably fractured.
“While it’s far from perfect, the agreement meets my principles for avoiding default and downgrade. It provides a long-term extension of the debt ceiling, a significant down-payment on cuts, and a path forward to reform tax earmarks and entitlements.
“A default and downgrade would lead to sky-high interest rates that would have created a new tax on every single American. The economy would be further weakened, and it would be a self-inflicted wound. I cannot allow this to happen.
“I took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. The 14th Amendment says that the validity of America’s debt must not be questioned. While the lawyers made the interpretation complicated, the framers made it simple. America pays its debt with no exceptions. Failure to reach an agreement would be a violation of trust to the American people and our creditors. And it would violate my oath to the Constitution.
“America must meet its obligations to its creditors. We must also meet our obligations to each other. Throughout this debate, I have insisted on no benefit cuts to soldiers, seniors and veterans and will continue to do so. Obligations made must be obligations kept.
“I will also fight to fulfill our obligations to the next generation who will lead us through the 21st Century. We need to rebuild roads, bridges and increase access to broadband to create jobs and rebuild our economy. We need to invest in higher education, science, research and technology that lead to jobs of the future. We can’t afford not to make these investments.
“After wrenching analysis, I will vote in favor of this bipartisan agreement because it is an achievable and pragmatic solution to the crisis that would be caused by inaction. It will require tough action and strong medicine down the road, but it is necessary to honor our obligations to our creditors and to ourselves.”
You’re a rock, Barbara.
Thank goodness you were there to save us from the very same beast that you helped to create after serving all these years in Congress. How many OTHER times in the past were you there to witness an increase in the debt ceiling?!?
What did you eventually think would happen? For how long did you think you’d be able to kick the debt can down the road?
So, we’ve managed to piss away nearly everything that our founders worked and died to give us. We’re now in debt too far to recover, communist countries like China are kicking our butts in everything from producing plastic toys for our kids to high-tech electronics that we so gleefully purchase from Wal-Mart, and we should feel like patting you on the back for “reaching across the aisle” in “serious negotiations”?!?
You’re a hack.
If I bragged to my family that I put us farther in debt by borrowing more money and the kids would have to pay it off they’d think I lost my mind.Yet many think this is a great idea for our country ( including Sen. Mikulski). Living beyond your means is never a good idea and there is enough fraud, waste, greed, corruption and stupidity in our federal government that we could balance the budget by just eliminating waste and bringing our troops home.
You mean that we could actually cut spending significantly without putting our old people out on the street and cutting back police and closing fire stations and cutting the education budget and taking medical care away from the sick and punching large holes in the safety nets and irreparably harming our children and really screwing up the environment and poisoning people with tainted food and drugs and fondling grandma in her wheelchair at the airport (have I missed anything)?
Surely you must be wrong. The libs have assured me for many years now that the world will cease to exist as we know it if we don’t spend more on all of the “crises” and tax the wealthy more to pay for it.
It seems to me that we have have taken out credit cards in the name of our children and run up an enormous debt. Every year or so we have told the credit card company to just raise our credit limit so we can continue our spending spree. We have also told them to just defer the bill and add the accumulated interest to the balance until our children are ready to pay it.
Congratulations you worn out debt monger. Thanks to you and the democrats our AAA Standard and Poor’s credit rating has been downgraded to AA+. Keep up the great work. Before you know it we’ll all be begging in the streets. Oh, I’m sorry that’s what you have in mind…..
The Republicans share just as much blame as the Democrats do for this mess. Both parties have been grossly mismanaging this country’s finances for decades and this is the result.
We never should have been in this situation to begin with.
That’s right Reggie. That’s why I’ve been “wasting my vote” by voting Libertarian for a few years now. Both parties have completely divorced themselves from principals of liberty and economic common sense.
Go Ron, go!
S&P is saying the downgrade is NOT because of the level of debt / revenue. France, a SOCIALIST country with much higher debt / revenue, is still AAA per S&P analysis.
No – The problem is that we have an active group of Terrorists located in the US called the Tea Party intent on bringing down the government by gridlock. These terrorists are the biggest threat we have to the US way of life.
Intellectually honest republicans need to take back their party or distance themselves and form a third party. Letting this equivalent of Hamas speak for your interests does nobody any good.
Don’t believe the Tea Party Terrorist’s nonsensical media blitz this weekend that we need to double-down again on cuts –> They won’t be happy until we’re living like they do in Iran.
Anonymous, you are one out of touch, garbage spewing, son of a gun. What physical evidence can you present that substantiates your bizarre accusations? Hamas has a proven track record of physical violence. I have never seen any indictments/verdicts related to terrorism/terrorist acts against the TEA Party. As we all know, the TEA Party consists of an assortment of patriotic, concerned citizens from all walks of life. Based on your obsession, I think you are a closet TEA Partier.
@Anonymous – You and the progressives have lost the argument and now all you can do is accuse people who are actively involved in our political process of being “terrorists, racists and klan members.
You are unhinged and have lost it.
this entire post reflect why the two-party system is the greatest show on earth under the big top. Complete with large steaming piles of manure contributed by both asses and elephants! I hope they all get the boot…drain the swamp