The “Unofficial” Republican Guide to the Debt Ceiling Debate

by Jerry Robinson

Ahhh, the sheer futility of politics…

It’s that time of year again… Time to raise America’s debt ceiling.

Now that Washington has passed trillions of dollars of new spending bills, it’s time to decide whether to pay for those items.

To figure out which side of this debate you should be on, ask yourself: Who exactly runs Washington these days?

A Barack Obama-controlled White House and a Harry Reid-controlled Senate tip the scales in favor of the Democrats.

So, if you are a Republican, you should definitely be against increasing the debt ceiling.

To help simplify this, just remember: If you are a Republican, the only time that you are “for” raising the debt ceiling is when a Republican majority is running Washington.

To put it another way, when Democrats are running Washington, debt ceiling increases are bad. And when Republicans are running Washington, debt ceiling increases are good.

For example: From 2000-2006, when Republicans were running the White House, the Senate, and the House… This would have been a perfect time for Republicans to be “for” increasing the debt ceiling.

And during this time period, the Republicans raised the debt ceiling no less than four times.

In June 2002, Republicans raised the debt ceiling to $6.4 trillion… (This was a very important increase. Military jobs were at stake and… The point is this debt ceiling increase was a good thing.)

In May 2003, Republicans raised the debt ceiling to $7.384 trillion… (Excellent! The Democrats almost didn’t let the GOP pass the debt ceiling increase. It was close, but our Republican knights in shining armor saved the day and raised the debt ceiling!)

In November 2004, Republicans raised the debt ceiling to $8.184 trillion… (Wonderful!)

In March 2006, Republicans raised the debt ceiling to $8.965 trillion… (Whew, fantastic!)

In fact, here’s a video showing a slew of Democrats Republicans talking about the immediate urgency to raise the debt ceiling…

Of course, it should come as no surprise that while the Republicans were busy pumping the debt ceiling levels ever higher, many Democrats were voting against those “evil” debt ceiling increases.

Here’s a brief video showing Senator Harry Reid voting against the Republican-led debt ceiling increase in March 2006.

And here’s then-Senator Barack Obama railing against the Bush administration’s constant debt ceiling limit increases.

Sadly, the Democratic calls for “fiscal responsibility” were completely ignored by the spendthrift Republicans.

Later, in September 2007, the debt ceiling was raised to $9.815 trillion… (This one was good!)

Then in July 2008, the debt ceiling increased to $10.615 trillion… (Like McDonald’s, I’m loving it! You must learn to embrace the vast importance of the July 2008 debt ceiling increase, young GOPer.)

Finally, in October 2008, President Bush Jr. signed off on another debt ceiling increase, this time raising it to $11.315 trillion. (Way to go, Bush!)

These were great times for Democrats to be against debt ceiling increases and for Republicans to be for them.

But things suddenly changed for Republicans in 2009.

With Bush Jr. gone and a Democratically-controlled White House, Senate, and House, it was probably time for a shift in the Republican attitude toward the whole debt ceiling issue. (I mean really, how many years in a row must we increase the debt ceiling, right?)

In February 2009, just one month after he was sworn into office, President Obama signed off on an increase in the debt ceiling of $12.104 trillion… (Young GOP’er, take note that it was under Barack “Hussein” Obama’s watchful eye that the U.S. debt ceiling first breached the unbelievably high level of $12,000,000,000,000.00. That’s right, when the Democrats had complete and total control of Washington, they did exactly the opposite of what Republicans would have done. That is, they raised the debt ceiling! Oh, the arrogance!)

Later that same year, in December, Obama and Co. wasted no time approving yet another increase in the debt ceiling. Listen dear GOP’er, it was the Democrats that were calling for a new debt ceiling level of $12.394 trillion… (What was Obama thinking? Despite the consistent cries of numerous GOP Senators and Congressmen, Obama seemed fixated upon raising the debt ceiling. This is sheer financial insanity!)

Then, in February 2010, Mr. Obama and the Congress approved a hike in the debt ceiling up to $14.294 trillion… (This of course, was completely unacceptable!)

And now, in our post-fiscal cliff era, the centers of power in Washington — including this country’s vast corporate interests, the military-industrial complex, and the corporate-owned lapdog media — are rushing the entire country headlong into our next fiscal crisis.

Later this year, Washington will have to make a choice: To raise the debt ceiling again or not?

It’s a real nail biter, this one is…

Remember young GOP’er, Democrats currently control Washington.

Republicans, you know what to do.

Until next time,

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