Republican lawmakers are "playing with fire" by contemplating even a brief debt default as a means to force deeper government spending cuts, an adviser to China's central bank said on Wednesday.

The idea of a technical default -- essentially delaying interest payments for a few days -- has gained backing from a growing number of mainstream Republicans who see it as a price worth paying if it forces the White House to slash spending, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Is there anybody on the planet, other than a republican, that thinks this is a good idea?

hopefully not, and they all decide to slash spending to avoid it

http://news.yahoo.com/...usa_debt_bondholders


Is there anybody on the planet, other than a republican, that thinks this is a good idea?

Are those the same penny-pinching Republicans that raised the debt ceiling something like seven different times during the Bush administration?

The Chinese have the US by the 'nads. If they dump their US debt onto world credit markets, it's bye bye Western economy.

I'm not an economist. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

The Chinese have the US by the 'nads. If they dump their US debt onto world credit markets, it's bye bye Western economy.

I'm not an economist. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

The very idea thet the Chamber of Commerce would allow their GOP lap dogs off leash long enough to default on The Debt is preposterous.

Sorry folks, I know you luvs you some drama, but we're talking money here. Not. Gonna. Happen.

Personally, I hope they don't cut spending by as much as a penny unless it is accompanied by tax increases. There is simply no way any sane person can argue that taxes on the highest income rates should be at historically low levels right now.

China holds less than 10% of total US debt. The idea that China has us by the balls is badly overblown.

Nice spin. "Less than 10%" is still 1.1 - 1.2 trillion dollars, and they are the largest international holder of US securities (debt). To suggest that dumping a trillion $ on the market would not be a significant disruption is, at best, extremely optimistic.

To suggest that they would do that is extremely pessimistic

Nice spin. "Less than 10%" is still 1.1 - 1.2 trillion dollars, and they are the largest international holder of US securities (debt). To suggest that dumping a trillion $ on the market would not be a significant disruption is, at best, extremely optimistic.

Because interest rates on bonds determine how much it costs the US government to secure more debt, even seemingly slight changes can affect the long term deficit on a large scale. A 1% rise in interest rates, or 100 basis points, would grow the deficit by over $400 billion over the next five years and $1.2 trillion from 2012-2021, according to the CBO. Given that the agency's baseline assumes a number of tax cuts that Congress typically extends will expire, it's likely that more debt would be affected and push the number even higher.

The very idea thet the Chamber of Commerce would allow their GOP lap dogs off leash long enough to default on The Debt is preposterous.

Sorry folks, I know you luvs you some drama, but we're talking money here. Not. Gonna. Happen.

Correct. However, what the Republitards don't seem to grasp is that even the appearance of the possibility that we may default on our debt may irreparably harm the credit rating of the US and end up costing all of us hundreds of billions of additional dollars.

Curt