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So where does Glenn stand on the debt ceiling? The issue came up last night between Glenn and Judge Napolitano, and afterwards everyone was unsure what Glenn thought. Well, after a forty-minute philosophical discussion, we have an answer. Kind of. Maybe.
Pat said, “I'm just looking over some of the media sites and it looks like, did you and the judge say yesterday that raising the debt ceiling is the beginning of the end for the Republicans?” He added, “It makes it look like you're advocating for not raising the debt ceiling, which would kind of be disastrous.”
Glenn was surprised that his words were being twisted and misunderstood, so he tried to clarify.
First, he used the analogy of flying a plane:
"And quite honestly, I'm for not raising the debt ceiling. I'm exactly where I was on TARP and on the first day of TARP I said, listen, this airplane is going to slam into the side of a mountain and it's over and nobody's ready because nobody has told you what it means. That's why I was for TARP for the first two days, because I thought that they were actually going to explain to the American people, okay, guys, we've got to bring this plane down into the trees. Well, if you didn't do TARP, I really, truly believe this, the engines would have stopped. Retrospect and two days into it I was against TARP because I realized they're going to lie to you even more. They're going tell you it's got to fix it. It's going to turn the plane around and try to land it in the trees instead of landing it in the side of a mountain where we all die…If we don't raise the debt ceiling, we can't pay our bills and the rest of the world says America is on fire."
Because not raising the debt ceiling would be disastrous, as Pat said, Glenn has been warning people to prepare. Raising the debt ceiling only gives people time to prepare and for the country and individual American citizens to start making the necessary sacrifices to save the country and the economy. This is why charity and preparation are so important:
“This is why I've been saying you've got to be better at charity, you've got to prepare and have food not just for your family but for your neighbors, because if you turn the debt ceiling and say no more raising of the debt ceiling, the government won't take care of people. You must. You must. We must reach out to each other. Otherwise, there will be riots in the streets.”
Stu simplified Glenn’s analogies, “On the debt ceiling you're essentially saying, look, you have to be serious about actually solving this problem but that doesn't mean we default on all our debts? I don't understand what is physically conservative about defaulting on debit. That's not something that is -- it's about being responsible for your actions and your past actions.”
Pat added, “Leadership means that the buck stops here. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the box backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.”
Glenn concluded that the issue was ultimately about personal responsibility and making sacrifices as a country:
“We will do this the responsible way. We are on the hook for those debts and we will pay them. We will just not incur new debts, but you must raise the debt ceiling because what we told you, as interest rates go up, you don't have enough money. You can't -- there's not enough tax dollars to pay for it. There's not. So, if you want to be responsible, you pay the debt but then, at the same time, you don't incur any new debt. That's what we're doing. Right now you're in that situation with your mortgage. You can't pay your mortgage? You pay the damn mortgage, but you don't go and renew the cable bill.”
Stu was able to summarize Glenn’s position: “Raise it as long as it's paired with legitimate physical responsibility.”
