Bernanke made a very valid argument as to why politicians (read GOP) should stop holding the debt ceiling issue hostage:
"I fully understand the desire to use the debt limit deadline to force some necessary and difficult fiscal policy adjustments, but the debt limit is the wrong tool for that important job," the Federal Reserve chairman said at the annual conference for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget in D.C. on Tuesday.
In that same article, I found the following response from a commenter who, to me, epitomizes the stupidity some have in understanding the complexities of this issue:
Mike Jones:
This is like you credit card company calling you up and telling you are over the limit and in order to save your credit rating, they are going to have to up your credit line and they need your permission to do it first. I've always heard if you are in a deep hole and you want to get out, you should stop digging.
and here's another:
Monkster:
No more raising the debt limit without huge cuts! We are just getting in deeper and deeper. This is insane.. If my finances were this bad I sure as heck wouldnt be looking for more credit..
Look, stupid people. You cannot compare raising the debt ceiling to your own stupid financial issues. This is not so quaint or insignificant. Do you understand, as our Chairman explained, that failure to do so on this issue will mean that THE UNITED STATES DEFAULTS ON ITS LOANS.
Now, let me explain why that is a problem that is larger than your own simple-minded metaphoric comparison to your Discover card. If the US defaults, our credit rating is in the toilet. If it's in the toilet, other countries will not do business with us or charge more for everything. If they charge more, we have hyperinflation.
Furthermore, if the government cannot pay its loans, your social security check will not arrive. Or your Medicare payment. Or anything for that matter. And this country will be plunged back into a recession like we've never experienced, let alone what it will do to the rest of the world and how they will hate us for it.
I am so sick and tired of dense people. Why can't blockheads like Mike Jones and Monkster use a bit of the abstract-thinking portion of their small brains to invest in a perspective that has some real-world usage.
Dumb people do not understand the financial holocaust we'd be in for. They don't realise that their small view of large issues is having consequences on our economy when they fall for the bullshit peddled by the right, who know these people are stupid and use it to their advantage.
I advocate for a country where there is a minimum intelligence level requirement for everyone who's attended school (I would not expect it from those who cannot attend school or have disabilities that prevent them from learning). Too many willfully dumb people. I'm done with it.