Is Obama Rewriting Debt-Limit History?
Is Obama Rewriting Debt-Limit History? On October 3rd, the Wall Street Journal ran an editorial titled "Kevin Hassett and Abby McCloskey: Obama Rewrites Debt-Limit History" . The editorial begins as follows: As the government shutdown continues, the nation gets closer and closer to the day—probably Oct. 17—when Washington hits the debt limit, and with it the specter of default. President Obama may be getting nervous about what will happen to his negotiating position as that day approaches. He keeps asserting that the debt limit has never been used "to extort a president or a government party." Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is selling the same story, saying "until very recently, Congress typically raised the debt ceiling on a routine basis . . . the threat of default was not a bargaining chip in the negotiations." The editorial goes on to say that this is "simply untrue" and describes "the shenanigans of congressional Democrats in 1989 ove...