Bloomberg Implores Congress To Raise Debt Limit, GOP Has A Sneaky Plan

Despite Paul Giamatti Ben Bernake warning Congress that the failure to raise the debt ceiling by August 4 would spark a "major crisis" that would send "shock waves" throughout the global economy, Rep. Boehner angrily pulled back from a "grand bargain" and now even the more modest deals pitched by the Biden group seem to be in peril. This has America's Mayor, Mike Bloomberg begging Washington to raise the limit before something "catastrophic" happens. At a press conference in Queens yesterday, Bloomberg said of the DC pols, "The debt ceiling is so important that playing 'chicken with it may be cute and may be good politics but it doesn't leave the rest of the world having a warm and fuzzy feeling about investing in America."

Hizzoner is "100 percent" in favor of lowering the deficit, but unlike Republicans he doesn't believe it should be coupled to the discussion on the debt ceiling. Bloomberg says, "Both sides are going to have to stop all this posturing, and come to the table." That won't happen anytime soon, thanks to an interesting proposal given by one Yertle the Turtle, a.k.a. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

McConnell wants to give the president the authority to raise the debt ceiling to $2.5 trillion without Congress's approval. At first glance, it would give Obama an opportunity to save and potentially (in the short-term) boost the economy, without having to concede to slashes to entitlement programs. However, it will also give Tea Party Republicans time to wail and gnash their teeth, casting meaningless votes against pending debt-ceiling limit legislation, allowing them to return to their constituents with their heads held high. If McConnell's plan works, expect the GOP to demand massive concessions from the Democrats and pillory Obama for deepening the country's deficit.

Whether or not the GOP will accept McConnell's move, there's not much time for hand wringing. In two weeks our country will default on its financial obligations if the ceiling isn't raised, and we'll have a lot more to worry about than "Twitter primaries."