In May 2013, the U.S.
Treasury had spent up to its statutory debt limit. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew
wrote House Speaker Boehner that the Treasury would "begin implementing
the standard set of extraordinary measures that allows the Treasury to continue
to borrow and spend even after it has hit the legal debt limit."
Through October 16, 2013, the Daily Treasury Statement showed "Total
Public Debt Subject to Limit" at $16,699,396. The "16" is
trillions; the numbers are in millions. The "Statutory Debt Limit"
(the next line on the Daily Treasury Statement), showed, day-in and day-out:
"$16,699,421. The difference was $25,000,000: This figure adds back the
zeros not shown on the daily posting.
The Federal government continued to spend money, aside from showy pockets of
austerity: the World War II memorial, for instance, and, aberrations
unintentionally demonstrating the vast federal government waste that should be
shut.
The October 17, 2013, Daily Treasury Statement shows the Statutory Public Debt
Subject to Limit rose to $17,027,544. Adding in the zeros, this was an
overnight increase of $328 billion. Except, it is not. That is, the Statutory
Public Debt Subject to Limit is not subject to any limit. The October 17, 2013,
Daily Treasury Statement listing for Statutory Debt Limit is *, or
"*". Following the "*" we read: *Statutory debt limit
temporarily suspended through February 7, 2014."
Of course, we know this is an artificial construct, as is the debt limit
itself. The form it takes was explained in the October 22, 2013, King Report.
Bill King quoted Seeking
Alpha: "Up until yesterday, Congress had to approve of any
increase in the debt ceiling. Theoretically it gave Congress leverage to
negotiate with the President before approving of an inevitable debt ceiling
increase. Now, if Congress refuses to pass a debt ceiling increase, the
President has the power to veto the rejection. In order for Congress to
override the President's veto, 2/3's of both Houses of
Congress would have to approve of the rejection of the President's veto.
There's no way both the Senate and the House would be capable of doing this. In
other words, the President now has the ability to unilaterally get rid of the
debt-ceiling limit. QE to infinity."
This may change or it may not. More important than the voting parameters is the
knowledge there never was a debt ceiling. Through winks and nods among the
Treasury Department, Congress, and the media, buffoonery held the public's
attention, when it was all show.
Of the eye-opening exhibition of government waste, none will be canned, so a
single example follows.
On October 2, 2013, that is: one day into the government shutdown, Air Force
Lieutenant General (retired) Clapper, now Director of National Intelligence,
testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee:
"I've been in the intelligence
business for about 50 years. I've never seen anything like this. From my
view... this seriously damages our ability to protect the safety and security
of this nation and its citizens..... This affects our global capability to
support the military, to support diplomacy, and to support our policymakers.
"The danger here, of course, that
this will accumulate over time. The damage will be insidious. So each day that
goes by, the jeopardy increases."
The danger, in General Clapper's view, is probably not what you expect:
"This is a dreamland for foreign intelligence service to recruit,
particularly as our employees, already many of whom [are] subject to furloughs
driven by sequestration, are going to have, I believe, even greater financial
challenges. So we're spending our time setting up counseling services for
employees to help them manage their finances. So from my stand point this is
extremely damaging and it will increase so as this shutdown drags on."
[End of testimony].
Our intelligence agents, for whom General Clapper is responsible, are (were,
until October 17) about to sell top secret information to the Enemy. The Evil
Empire, it turns out, is that America's best and brightest, defenders of the
faith, have hit their credit card limits. Reds under the Bed made for more
stimulating drama, even if it was a screenwriter slipping subversive jokes about
Stalin's dacha into the Milton Berle Show.
While the media was talking rot about budget and Treasury coupon payment
such-and-such, the Director of National Intelligence for the United States made
a clear statement the U.S. intelligence establishment is untrustworthy.
Clapper's testimony leads to one solution: the entire intelligence bureaucracy
should be fired. Alternatively, it is possible that General Clapper has lost
his mind, and should treated as top secret intelligence chiefs who may switch
sides at any moment are handled.
In any case, this should have been front
page news. Americans should know the imminent danger they face.
The point was made above about "the public's attention." There can be
a difference between "public" and "popular" opinion. Public
opinion, orchestrated by such parties as the Treasury, Congress, and the media,
is generally successful in molding popular opinion. Examples being the people's
willingness to cheerfully buy War Bonds, send their sons, and march off,
"over, over there," in the two World Wars.
A dangerous situation may
develop when popular opinion falls flat with the people. This, the entire staff
here agrees, was true of the debt ceiling and sequestration debate. Opinion
polls do not measure depth of feeling. The media - some of it - seemed to sense
this, with a "hey guys, this is important! Wake up! Get scared!" The
disengagement contrasts to the high anxiety mood in July 2011, when the same
topics cornered attention. In other countries, at other times, when the people
stopped believing, they disbelieved everything, true or false.
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