Playing Chicken With U.S. Credit . . .

Earlier this month, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner warned Congress that the U.S. will, in the coming months, reach its legal debt limit unless members vote to raise the debt ceiling. "Never in our history has Congress failed to increase the debt limit when necessary," Geithner wrote. "Failure to increase the limit would be deeply irresponsible. For these reasons, I am requesting that Congress act to increase the limit early this year, well before the threat of default becomes imminent." Geithner's predecessor, Henry Paulson, agreed with the necessity of raising the debt limit long before this political controversy, saying that it is "vital to protect America's creditworthiness, and therefore I'm confident Congress will act to increase the debt limit well before it is reached." The U.S. Congress first imposed a debt ceiling in 1917, and has raised the debt limit 74 times since March 1962, according to the Congressional Research Service, with ten raises occurring after 2001. However, a growing number of Republicans have made it clear that they intend to play chicken with the debt ceiling, risking the credit worthiness of the United States in order to score political points or extract demands from the Obama administration. "The American people will not stand for such an increase unless it is accompanied by meaningful action by the president and Congress to cut spending," said House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH). But by playing games with the debt ceiling, the GOP is inviting a variety of harmful consequences that come with even hints that the U.S. might default on its debt. Think Progress