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Rand Paul Threatens To Filibuster Debt Ceiling Talks Until Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment Passes
When it was reported last week that Eric Cantor, who had just walked out of Biden's debt ceiling talks leaving Democrats to talk amongst themselves, was pushing for a "balance budget" amendment to the constitution, many took it as merely more posturing in the relentless debt ceiling drama that is rapidly approaching its inevitable conclusion (under one month left until August 3). It now appears that this may have been more than a bluff, at least to members of the Tea Party. According to the Huffington Post, "Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is planning a Senate filibuster next week in an attempt to force debt ceiling negotiations into the open." More: '"We've had not one minute of debate about the debt ceiling in any committee," he said in an interview with C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" that aired on Sunday. "We haven't had a budget in two years. We haven't had an appropriations bill in two years. So I'm part of the freshmen group in the Senate that's saying, 'no more.'" Paul's plan: "Next week, we will filibuster until we talk about the debt ceiling, until we talk about proposals."" He added that a group of senators in the "conservative wing" of the Republican Party will also be presenting a proposal to tie raising the debt limit to passage of a balanced budget amendment." So, just more posturing, which may now be indicative of the first splinters within the republican party, especially after John Cornyn said the GOP may accept a "mini deal" on raising the debt ceiling, or actual concerns about the debt hike that have to be appreciated? For now, at least judging by the market, the debt ceiling rise is a foregone deal.
"[W]e will actually vote in favor of raising the debt ceiling next week if we can, but it will be contingent on passing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution," he said, adding, "I'm not completely without the sense that we may need to raise the debt ceiling. But I will only do it if we have significant budgetary reform, and to me that means you have to balance your budget every year."
Paul's announcement picks up where Sen. Ron Johnson's (R-Wis.) one-man filibuster attempt last Tuesday left off. Johnson declared that as long as the debt ceiling negotiations are held behind closed doors, he would block all unanimous consent calls, effectively putting a stop on Senate business.
"Unless we receive some assurance from the Democrat leadership that we will actually start addressing our budget out in the open, in the bright light of day -- I will begin to object," Johnson said on the Senate floor.
Further indicating that Paul's noble attempts at curbing spending may be short-lived is a report from The Hill that Mitch McConnell, who has resisted a balanced budget amendment: "He argues that a balanced budget amendment, which requires a two-thirds vote in both chambers, simply doesn’t have enough votes to pass the upper chamber. But this has put him out of step with some of the hard-charging conservative freshmen in the upper chamber."
At this point it is probably not even worth the time to look at who funds whom out of the abovementioneds, although for those curious, here is the complete list of McConnell's lifetime contributors. Hopefully it is a not a surprise to anyone.
Contributor  |
Total |
Indivs |
PACs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kindred Healthcare | $180,200 | $150,200 | $30,000 |
| UST Inc | $128,100 | $93,100 | $35,000 |
| Brown-Forman Corp | $121,150 | $82,650 | $38,500 |
| Elliott Management | $114,000 | $114,000 | $0 |
| UBS AG | $107,950 | $97,950 | $10,000 |
| Humana Inc | $98,652 | $74,777 | $23,875 |
| Citigroup Inc | $93,750 | $70,750 | $23,000 |
| Peabody Energy | $93,700 | $66,600 | $27,100 |
| Altria Group | $91,950 | $46,950 | $45,000 |
| Ashland Inc | $90,358 | $67,000 | $23,358 |
| AT&T Inc | $77,050 | $27,800 | $49,250 |
| United Parcel Service | $74,600 | $27,600 | $47,000 |
| General Electric | $71,750 | $40,450 | $31,300 |
| Greenebaum, Doll & McDonald | $71,000 | $75,000 | $-4,000 |
| Blue Cross/Blue Shield | $69,750 | $37,250 | $32,500 |
| Guardsmark Inc | $67,100 | $67,100 | $0 |
| Griffin Industries | $66,750 | $66,750 | $0 |
| FMR Corp | $65,000 | $54,000 | $11,000 |
| WPP Group | $65,000 | $61,000 | $4,000 |
| FedEx Corp | $63,400 | $29,400 | $34,000 |
Below is Paul's warning clip:
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If you are it is simply because you are lucky. even if a wise man says he knows what's going down, he can't comprehend it at all.
Nobody can comprehend it all. But this countries economy needs a reset,old intitutions need to die off, and the sooner it happens the better. The further they kick it down the road the harder it will be for everybody. It should have been allowed to reset when LTC was on the verge of collapse. Instead they were bailed out and that set the stage for a blank check from uncle sam.
Amputate the limb now, or the patient will die....present condition terminal.
At least you are preparing, which is more than most can say and I respect it.
I agree with you about LTCM and all the bailouts. In hindsight, letting LTCM go would have been the right thing to do, but it didn't seem right at the time. Same with Lehman and AIG. Knowing now versus knowing then is a tough call and things were moving so fast.
It's like being fourth and goal, down 9 points, ten seconds on the clock. When your pulling guard is limping, your options are limited.
No. Its like understanding economics, being principled and telling the well connected bankers to go jump off a cliff, or doing the exact opposite, and fucking the rest of us.
The mechanism of monetary policy transmission are banks. This is just how it is.
The Fed fixes problems through montary policy. This is just how it is.
Telling banks to jump off a cliff would have led to a lot of bank failures, sure but would also have led to a lot of people getting booted out of their house. Much higher unemployment and worse, a sudden destruction of wealth. Voters wouldn't have put up with that. The unemployed are tolerant now because they have a safety net and some don't make mortgage payments but still live there.
Letting banks go would not have been very much fun, principled or not. Those angry now would be weeping. Not saying it would be wrong, just not what most expect.
How is it lucky to point to center field before bombing one over the bleachers? You don't need to know all the details... nor do you need to know what steps lie in between here and our inevitable conclusion...
Seems to me like those who have purposefully deleveraged (before being forced to do so) and who sunk the discretionary income/residual wealth into inflation hedges would be suited well for whatever flation breaks hold...
total affirm
"If you are it is simply because you are lucky. even if a wise man says he knows what's going down, he can't comprehend it at all. "
Now listen here pal. Some of us have been warning of and prepping for this FOR TEN YEARS!!!
So don't talk to me about luck buster.
The Bitcoin Channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/BitcoinChannel
What? The present course is warm and fuzzy Obama, bankster love?
These guys seem bound and determined to engineer their own 1937.
I get you jm. But you won't get a lot of rational dialog around ZH these days.
I would actually love a balanced budget amendment, but you don't get it by dropping it into a debate over the debt ceiling three weeks before we default.
The problem is that a sizeable chunk of the GOP is now a protest movement, uninterested in actually governing. They won in 2010 and don't know what the hell to do with the steering wheel.
Market says otherwise. Nice rhetoric though and the TV appearance is worthy of an Emmy award.
"balanced budget" = death of fiat money and central banking.
it will be painful, but long-term, there is no other sustainable path forward.
Rand Paul's http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cycle=2010&cid=N00030836&type=I&newmem=Y vs his father http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cycle=Career&cid=N00005906&type=I
Not sure what your point is, except the notable military contributions to the elder Paul.
The most noteworthy thing to me is that most of the contributions are individual and there are very few PACs.
Compare that to my local Congresscritter....
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cid=N00001148&cycle=2010&type=I&newMem=N&recs=100
Not much of a point beyond that Rand has been subject of receiving contributions in his short term thus far from PAC's. The only reason someone wants to go into politics is so that they can line their pockets and do the work of the highest bidder.
Mr. Paul the younger seems to have issues regarding what he says and what he does. The senior appears to get more personal contributions.
let us see if either do what they claim they will, as action speaks much louder than words.
Any fly in this rancid govt ointment is fine with me, filibuster that shit Rand go for it.
+ 1776
Yes we can get the economy better, JUST by cutting spending. No to more taxes! Yes, the cuts would include the military and entitlements, and they would be big. But, Obama is wrong... We CAN get there by cutting spending.
Go for it Rand! And run, Ron, run!
I hear Obama yelling that you can't balance the budget by cut cut cutting. Well hey, why don't we cut first and then talk. I mean $1.6 trillion new spending? Try cutting that out, then let's talk..
But how will Uncle Sugar buy his votes? Imagine a Democrat party without the ability to send welfare payments in exchange for power...
Not meant to insult you, but try to think outside of the box Chuck. This kind of shit will get you nowhere fast.
Here's a nugget from the Rep/Tea Party side,
"It's going to be a difficult lift, but I still think that calmer minds will prevail in the end and they'll recognize that we don't have any alternative but to move forward," said Bill Hoagland, a former Republican congressional aide who has worked on budget issues for decades.
BTW, "move forward" means "kick the can".
You think outside the box.
Here is another nugget
"Martians will be landing any day with their pet tribbles, tribbles that shoot gold coins out their butts" Percy Mandeval, Democrat strategist who formerly scrubbed the zits off Debby Wasserman Schultz's ass.
BTW, do nothing and allow the Government to continue sucking us dry means our children have no shot, no chance of anything approaching our level of living standards.
Apparently you missed my point of telling Chuck that the Dem's/Rep's are one and the same?
And what do you mean "do nothing"? WTF are you talking about?
i'm a bit suspicious. you know that the banks want to do the same to the U.S. that they are doing to greece, collateralize debt, and force a default. so would this speed that plan along, or thwart it? that is the question.
IF Washington was staffed with people loyal to the country and not special interests, and IF the American people would give up Amerkan Idol for a few years, the US could pull an Iceland. And unlike Greece, we have the muscle to make everyone agree to whatever terms we offer.
Better yet, Glass-Steagall the fraud, and wipe it out 100 percent.
Then do what you say and agree to terms on the rest of the stuff that wasn't outright fraud.
We don't need to pay a percentage of fraud, wipe it out.
Then negotiate on the rest.
Stand on Principle.
Crazy how? Crazy good government? Crazy responsible?
With so much fuel it's just a matter of time before you have spontaneous combustion...
Why don't they save time and just revive this:
http://uspolitics.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=uspolitics&cdn=ne...
The Balanced Budget Amendment which passed in Congress 300-132 in 1995 but was rejected in the Senate afterwards.
I forget, do the republicans control the senate this time?
Thye will Vince Foster his ass if he keeps this up.
The force is strong with Senator Paul.
black swan
Here we are with exploding debt and the debt ceiling discussion is all behind closed doors horse-trading. Yeah, debate and discussion in committees with the C-SPAN giving us live feed just possibly might be in order in a democratic republic.
Chip off the old block, who happens to more liberal than Rand.
Rand Paul is the preverbial!
Don't you mean "prodigal?"
Debt ceiling deadline, what debt ceiling deadline? Am I the only one who remembers when the debt ceiling was forecast to be exceeded in late February or early March. Then it slipped to April, then May. In May with much fanfare "the government" announced that they had till August 2. Now this article says it is August 3rd.
The debt ceiling has already been broken as Zerohedge has very capeably pointed out. Our constitution is being ignored as we speak.
These bozos in Washington D.C. will not quite increasing my grandchildren's debt until they hear the sound of gun fire in the streets outside the capital. Some of them actually want that eventuality in order to destroy what remains of our liberty.
With very few exceptions these are not serious adults we have put in charge of our fate.
There is no way in hell the Republican leadership will go along with Rand Paul on this. They might promise him something down the road, but the debt ceiling will be raised regardless. Boehner and McConnnell will see to that.
More importantly..What will the MSM do w/out Lindbergh baby trial and Wimbledon?
Then is it reasonable to conclude that these three items are all unnecessary to the function of our Federal government?
see Belgium
Yes, we rock.
Now excuse me. I have to yell to my wife because I've been waiting already 2 minutes after my cold beer and I'm due for a blowjob.
A reasonable inquiry, and apparently so. Optional, much like declarations of war and adherence to the Constitution.
Maybe some one can help me understand...
What good is a balanced budget amendment to curtail government spending in the age of debt monetization by the Fed?
Somewhere in the wilderness of ideas somebody has to make a principled stand.
That is the difference between Statesman and politician.
The budget picture (whateverthefuckthatis) would be racially different without 5 endless wars, a medicare system than rewards bad behavior and subsidizes inflated for-profit health care costs, a federal government that duplicates many of the functions that the States and counties roll out and the current nail-in-the-coffin, the DHS-TSA - a freaking police state that Mao, Stalin and Hitler could never dream of.
FDR's nanny state with the hysterical un-Patriot Act will be the end of Liberty, Justice and the Spirit of this Republic.
The feds need to go back to 'provide for a common defense,' standardized food safety (with enforcement) and a timely court system.
+1000
FDR's...nanny state...I guess that's what we're calling social security and medicare..has nothing to do with this FRAUD that has destroyed us.
You've just bought into a little too much propaganda. Social expenditures didn't get us here. The fucking fraud resulting from the rigged setup got us here.
But go ahead and blame your fellow citizen for getting some of what they need.
Glass-Steagall, not dogma from Ayn Rand, Schumpeter, Austrian fucktards, or Keyneisan fucktards. What we have is a case of fraud, not spending.
The nanny state is dependent on the perpetuation of FRAUD. Seems to me that you believe in taxation without representation via the comprimised currency. We do not need Glass-anything, try Jubilee + Hard Money.
anybody who links the price of gas to their vote for a given politician can't possibly be for a balanced budget. We need two carrier groups, two amphibious assault groups and 3-5 shooting wars to keep that under control.
anybody who links the strength of the U.S. economy to their vote for a politician can't be for a balanced budget either. If the U.S. were to get revenue up to meet critical needs like interest payments and feeding the zombies, effective tax rates must go up. Party's over for commodities.
Anyone who thinks we can balance a budget on "no new taxes" is appealing to a very dim witted and malicious group of citizens. Bad news is that is probably 25-30% of the U.S. population. Good news is that it's only 25-30%.
The rules of the global game are set. Thinking that you are exceptional and can unilaterally play by a different set of rules and win makes you a fool.
Leave the wars and quit allowing naked CDS then see where we stand.
It's pretty apparent that the recent stimulus packages, etc. were vehicles to expand the money supply and maintain debt/credit so that the big financial institutions wouldn't fall into deflation holes when their bets went sour. Capping out US debt at this point or a tad higher (Rand Paul said that was a possibility.) means that the banksters will have to find someone else to milk besides the taxpayers.
Worth a try.
Who cares? One idiot monetarists lambasting other idiot monetarists.
All of them are idiots why? Because they ALL say the debt is legitimate.
IT IS NOT LEGITIMATE.
Glass-Steagall the fraud.
Why doesn't Ron Paul call fraud, fraud? Because he's a clueless, idiot monetarist himself.
Keynesian's create the fraudulent debt
Austrian's collect on the fraudulent debt
There is no good cop/bad cop. They're both frauds.
Glass-Steagall
Don´t spread lies about Ron Paul, do your research:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/23595.html
He opposed changing Glass-Steagall with Gramm-leach-bliley:
Read his speech from 1999:
http://www.actuarialoutpost.com/actuarial_discussion_forum/archive/index.php/t-150949.html
Being from Kentucky and meeting Rand on several occassions, he will most likely carry the torch his dad has carried for many years and be relentless in his pursuit of limited government and ending the Fed as we know it. He is better on the campaign trail than his dad and will lead the libertarian fight for years to come.
The problem with both Pauls is that they want to officially hand over the keys of power to the big banks and other multi-national corporations that already have far too much influence in our society. I hate government as much as the next guy, but I don't trust Jamie Dimon and Jeff Immolt to do the right thing by me either. We need to have some rules in place to keep the robber barons from taking charge and turning us into New China. If Ron and Rand Paul could amend their positions slightly to reflect that reality, I'd be their biggest fans.
I suppose ending the Federal Reserve is giving all the power to the banks.
Don't bother responding. Just mill about in your confusion.
At the risk of fueling your arrogance by responding, it isn't that simple. Ending the fed would be a game changer, but they also advocate ending essentially all government regulation on business. That would be trading in one problem for another. What's wrong with ending the Fed but also recognizing that government can serve a useful purpose in a complex society?
Yeah, but try to figure out HOW to abuse and enslave humans if you lose all fractional reserve practices, and must earn via productive work all the money you wish to control others with.
Also try to abuse and enslave humans when fraud starts to be prosecuted again. Most people today cannot even IMAGINE a world in which liars end up behind bars, whether they are CEO at a big fictitious entity (corporation, government) or not.
"Tea Party Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is pledging to block all Senate business this week until the chamber starts debating the debt ceiling. In an interview that aired Sunday on C-Span, the freshman senator vowed to filibuster everything until the partisan gridlock over raising the debt limit is resolved"
Tough part about filibustering is what to talk about. "Hey Senator Paul... just read the Constitution over and over until the asswipes in the Senate understand what it says!"
Maybe then they would abide by what they swore an oath to uphold.
as you all note...time is of the essence. Our problem is what to cut, everyone has their own "favorite". So the answer is simple.....plus some other solution suggestions.
10% across the baord cut in Fed spending
balanced budget amendment
term limits for all congress
simple, no arguments, no whinning.
Let eh US default and lets hang some Congress fuckers. Get the game going like Rome.
The USSR got it right.
Like the USSR, the USSA clearly demonstrates that the experiment in central government and central bank is an absolute, computer, abysmal failure - not to mention horribly destructive and dangerous.
The solution is to terminate the central government of the USSA, terminate the central bank unconstitutionally authorized by that central government, and leave local govermnents to "serve" the population.
Any other so-called solution is pointless. Literally everything about the central government is dishonest, unethical and destructive. Pull the plug. End it.
Go Rand!
How about a balance of trade amendment also, mandate no more imports than exports.
How about taxing imports to domestic parity immediately until we can pass the balance of trade amendment.
Abolish the Fed immediately, have the treasury, issue the currency, and save the taxpayers 3-5% of every dollar issued.
Nationalize the banks immediately, run them like the state charted Bank of North Dakota and have the profits returned to the people.
The "balanced budget amendment " is a bullshit sham, it doesn't tie spending to actual tax collections but to an imaginary fungible arbitrary number-the GDP.
I like Rand Paul, and the concept of a "balanced budget" but an amendment limiting state spending to a % of "the economy" is a complete crock of shit.
think of the balanced budget amendment as you do your checkbook. You can (should) only spend as much as you have in it. No reserve credit account. If taxes are down for the year, oh well, I can only spend as much as we take in, not a dime more, I just have to make a cut in the golf allowance for the year. None of this crap about spending as a percentage of GDP.
Deficit spending is of the banks, by the banks, and for the banks.
Everyone should read The Creature From Jekyll Island.
One key difference between me & my checking book and the Fed-empowered government is that I can't print money. As I said in an earlier comment, a balanced budget doesn't mean squatto unless we also prohibit (perhaps via dissolution) the Fed from monetizing our debt. This provides a source of funding at the cost of currency debasement/inflation, but is less explicitly visible to J6P.
Tear it down to the ground! I REALLY hope the federal government is forced to shut down: People need to realize that life will go on and the sun will rise if the great East Coast Babysitter has to take a few unpaid (oh boo hoo fucking hoo) days off. I don't care how good of a teleprompted speech any politician delivers is; there isn't one single person alive in Washington D.C. who's well being is more important than mine or anyone elses no matter what their pathetic Charleton Hack ass's would have the sheep of the world believe.
Shut it down. Thanks Rand.
+4 stars instead of +5
because Rand Paul is an obvious fraud
Ron Paul may be a fraud, but at least he effectively deceives me into thinking that he isn't.
After the elections (so-called) in 2010, we now have a majority of Republicons in the House and a Majority of Decepticrats in the Senate. To be sure, the debt-ceiling will be raised, much wailing and gnashing of teeth will occur before and after, yet Gridlock will be the soup-du-jour until 2012 -- I predict that the Great Implosion™ will occur before the election(s). Smoke 'em if ya got 'em.