Reaction & Commentary
Much and they look like they’re not going to budge on it and now the United States is facing a very real possibility more so than before of hitting the debt ceiling so what does that mean and would it really be that bad well to answer these questions we have with us Jeffrey
Tucker he’s founder and president of the Brownstone Institute hey Mr Tucker thank you for being with us it’s nice to be here thank you well you know I think the big question with the debt ceiling I guess first off is what happens if we just hit it and let it happen
Well presumably then the U.S debt would be downgraded at least that’s the forecast uh Congress is not allowed to spend any more money the government is going to be hitting up against you know bumping up against these spending limits so you know they’ll play around with
Shutdowns and that sort of thing I mean we’ve been here before Josh you know about this whole racket what they do is they say oh we’re out of money we’re being starved by the bad Republicans so now we have to close the passport office so you can’t get your passport we have
To close national parks and we’re going to shut down the Washington Monument in Washington they call it the Washington Monument Ploy right so you shut down all the things about government that people actually use like the Smithsonian but you Clea keep everything else uh running uh just as a
Way of twisting uh people’s people’s arms but look I mean the Republicans shouldn’t budge they they should definitely push back on this and and not listen to these wild threats of of default um you know it’s not going to come to default that’s not going to happen but
You know even I I think it’s it’s worth speculating what happens if the U.S does get his debt downgraded that means I was going to ask you that I mean is is that really so bad to be honest it really isn’t I thought it was funny
The other day in the CNN town hall with Trump trump just said uh so what we default I mean I thought that was hilarious comedy he said it’s bound to happen anyways that’s what he said yeah that I I would I think he’s might be the first major public figure in many
Decades who said if maybe ever who’s ever said anything like that so I was kind of proud of him for that uh in a sense what it does is it downgrades the uh credit status of the United States which as you suggest it would not be a
Bad thing I mean I don’t know how you’re going to get the government under control uh it’s it’s wildly uh too big uh depending on how you want to you know anywhere between 10 and 99 too big I mean you know so uh downgrading the debt
Would would not be a bad thing at least if it Inspire some level of frugality in Washington we’ve got to have some means to do it nothing else seems to work well you know in Biden saying that America is not a deadbeat nation and uh
Has to pay its debts I mean isn’t the argument not that I mean it is taking out a credit card to pay off your other credit cards is that being like not a deadbeat like what do you make of that what are you saying I don’t I don’t get
It to be honest yeah you know Josh that’s that’s actually a beautiful analogy going into further that does not fix your existing debt problems that every American family knows that and really the government is exactly the same situation as the average household the only difference is
That they have a money printer in the basement that they uh can run whatever they want right so this is very dangerous because going into further debt like this without the revenue to support it is only going to lead to ever higher inflation which is called debt monetization and and that’s what’s
Caused uh the value of the American domestic Dollar in terms of goods goods and services to lose 15 cents of value over the last three years with no end in sight so yeah the more we continue to live beyond our means the more they’re going to rely on these kind of a secret
Hidden taxes of inflation to fund things there are ways to balance the the books uh in in Washington I mean there there are massive budget cuts that could be made and all these administrative agencies that are not listed in the U.S Constitution uh you don’t even have to trans touch transfer payments
Um assets can be sold I mean the US owns vast amounts of land particularly in the west that could be sold off and and earning money with without raising taxes there’s ways to do it all we need is the political will and the question is what is going to inspire that political will
And the the answer is you’ve got to hold a hard line and I think Rand Paul and others are right about this I’m kind of proud of the Republicans for standing up we’ll see how long it lasts yeah well I think you hit it on the on
The head too that uh you know if inflation really is a hidden tax and I think we’ve been we’re being lied to at least in my opinion you know we’re being told the only two options are either default or you know basically get deeper into debt neither of which I think are
Going to solve things and you’re saying there are options for it I guess you know 30 seconds if you were to give them a recommendation what would it be uh it would be to not go along with it by Administration hold the line and when they shut down the government and start
The Washington Monument Ploy uh speak to the American people the Republicans should explain exactly what’s going on they need to come on your show they need to be all over social media they need to use every media Outlet possible to explain that the American people are being blackmailed by the Democrats right
Now into having ever higher taxes ever more spending ever more inflation and we cannot go this way because this way lies a bankruptcy so the shutdown can be endured as long as we have to but we are not going to go the way of a further impoverishment and a decline of of
American of the American Spirit just because these profligate uh Democrats in Washington want ever more spending and really quite frankly socialism we’re not going to go that way yeah Hey Jeffrey Tucker thank you so much appreciate it
