Republicans are playing a dangerous game by refusing to raise the debt ceiling, according to Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett. “We raised the debt ceiling seven times during the Bush Administration,” Buffett told CNBC on Thursday. Now, the Republican-controlled Congress is “trying to use the incentive now that we’re going to blow your brains out, America, in terms of your debt worthiness over time.” If Congress fails to raise the borrowing limit of the federal government by August 2, the date when the U.S. will reach the limit of its borrowing abilities, it will likely begin defaulting on its loans. Buffett, who according to the Washington Post has helped raise money for Democratic candidates like Hilary Clinton in the past, has been highly critical of the actions of the Republican-controlled Congress. In May, Buffett stated at a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder’s meeting that if the Congress failed to raise the debt ceiling, it would constitute “the most asinine act” in the nation’s history, reports Reuters. According to the U.S. Debt Clock, America’s total public debt equals close to $14.3 trillion which, according to the CIA World Factbook, is roughly 60 percent of the annual gross domestic product. But even with this information, Buffett is unfazed. “We had debt at 120 percent of the GDP, far higher than this, after World War II and no one went around threatening that we’re going to ruin the credit of the United States or something in order to get a better balance of debt to GDP.” Some experts, like former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, have floated the idea of the Treasury paying some obligations while not paying others. This, Buffett says, is ludicrous. “If you don’t send out social security checks, I would hate to think about the credit meeting at S&P and Moody’s the next morning,” Buffett told CNBC. “If you’re not paying millions and millions and millions of people that range in age from 65 on up, money you promised them, you’re not a AAA.” A triple-A credit rating is the highest possible rating that can be received. Watch the full CNBC interview here:
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on July 7, 2011. Filed under News.
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Posted by
on July 7, 2011. Filed under