US raised debt ceiling 102 times – economist
President Obama has warned the US is running out of time to deal with its financial troubles - the Congress must raise the current $14.3-trillion debt ceiling again. And as Professor Rodrigue Tremblay told RT, this has become a tradition in the US.
The US repeatedly gets away with raising the debt ceiling, Rodrigue Tremblay told RT.“This system that the US has, has been in place since 1917. They raise the debt ceiling each year, they have done it 102 times; eight times under George W. Bush alone. Most countries do not run their governments this way. In the US it is always a mess,” stated Tremblay. The professor of economics at the University of Montreal says the US is actually the country with the highest debt, and not Greece. But Washington will never be in line for a bailout, he adds.“The US is not in the same position as other countries because their currency is used internationally and therefore they can afford to print more dollars than the Euro or any other currency can,” said Tremblay. “The main problem in the US is that there seems to be no one in charge in Washington. President Obama is a lame duck president and does not control the government; and the Republicans control most of the Congress.”Many Republicans are unhappy with Obama's plan to reduce the budget deficit. But despite that the debt ceiling will be raised no matter what, Tremblay believes.“President Obama has a tradition of giving in to the demands of the Republicans. He did it twice before, so the Republicans are expecting him to do the same again. I do not doubt for a moment there will not be a default in America,” Tremblay told RT.He also pointed out the Republicans are very keen to oppose President Obama and his Democrats on this matter even though the situation might seem too serious for these party political games.“There are 16 new members of the Republican party in the House of Representatives, and these are tea-baggers, members of the Tea Party. They are not really Republicans, they are outcasts. They do not want to have any tax increase whatsoever, instead they vote for wars,” concluded Tremblay.
