Democrats Highlight Possible Perils Of Default: No Border Patrol Agents, Student Loans, Food Inspectors

By Marie Diamond/Think Progress

This morning, a group of Democratic senators came together to warn the country about the disastrous consequences of defaulting on our debt for the first time in U.S. history. Their Republican counterparts are still denying the country would default if the debt ceiling isn’t raised by Aug. 2, and insist the Treasury hasplenty of money to pay all of our bills. Several GOP leaders have suggested we “pay China first” and fund the military, but leave all other government programs and services on the chopping block.

Sens. Chuck Schumer (NY), Ben Cardin (MD), Mark Begich (AK), and Chris Coons (DE) illustrated the catastrophic effects of the Republican strategy:

“A default would pull the rug out from each and every family in this country for no good reason,” Schumer said.

He pointed out that if Treasury chooses to pay Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, military troops and interest on the debt, there would be no money for anything else.

“We don’t have a dime for student loans. We don’t have money for the FBI,” he said. “You don’t have anyone at the border. No one inspecting food.”

The $172 billion the government will have on hand on Aug. 3 is insufficient to meet all of our national needs and will leave us facing impossible choices. Paying for Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare, for instance, will take up $100 billion. That would leave a mere $72 billion to do everything else — including pay the interest on our debt and fund the military. As a result, many essential government services will be immediately shut down:

“We wouldn’t have a dime for Student loans, the FBI, Cancer Research, IRS refunds, or border patrol agents,” Schumer noted. “What from this list are you going to remove to fund these jobs that keep America safe?”

On Aug. 3, the government’s savings account will be nearly empty and President Obama would be relying on daily tax revenue to pay the nation’s bills. But there won’t be enough — in fact, there would be a $134 billion shortfall in August alone, according to an independent analysisconfirmed by a former senior Treasury Department official in the George H.W. Bush administration.

Sen. Coons summed up the situation: “This is the most predictable financial disaster in our history. Let’s avoid it.”

O’Donnell Can’t Name A Single Democratic Senator

By Alex Seitz-Wald

In a debate today hosted by local television station WHYY, Delaware Republican Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell seemed unable to name a single sitting Democratic senator. Asked which Democrats she would be willing to work with were she elected, O’Donnell paused for a long moment, before saying Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. O’Donnell acknowledged that Clinton is no longer a senator, but said she hopes to be on the Foreign Relations Committee and would be able to work with her in that capacity. When her opponent, Democrat Chris Coons, suggested O’Donnell couldn’t name any Democratic senators, she responded by shouting out the name of Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman:

MODERATOR: Give me a name, Christine, of someone in the U.S. Senate, across the aisle that you’re comfortable working with.

O’DONNELL: [Pause] Well, she’s not a senator any more, but I would definitely have to say Hillary Clinton. [...]

COONS: One of the real risks as we go forward, is that if we elect someone who literally cannot name a single currently serving senator in my party with whom she would work –

O’DONNELL: Senator Lieberman!

COONS: Someone who has no experience crossing the biparistan divide.

Watch it:

Of course, this isn’t the first time O’Donnell has been stumped by a simple question. In a different debate on Monday, O’Donnell seemed confused about the text of the First Amendment, despite the fact that she has touted herself as a Constitutional scholar in the past.