We can’t afford to default on the debt
By Frank Keating, WashPost, Published: September 27
Frank Keating is president and chief executive of the American Bankers Association. He was governor of Oklahoma from 1995 to 2003 and is a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Debt Reduction Task Force.
In this country, our word is our bond. The respect and admiration that the United States and its institutions inspire around the world are based on the certainty that when our nation makes a promise, we keep it.
Unfortunately, Congress seems poised to undermine U.S. credibility at home and abroad by taking the extraordinary step of reneging on bills that our nation has racked up. Ordinary Americans will bear the brunt of the damage if our leaders don’t prevent the United States from defaulting on its debt for the first time in history.
Sadly, we’ve been here before. The debt-ceiling standoff in 2011 is costing taxpayers nearly $20 billion as nervous investors demanded higher interest on U.S. Treasury bonds to defray the risk of government default. That manufactured political crisis caused economic uncertainty to spike, consumer confidence to plummet and stock prices to spiral downward — all because of the perceived risk of the United States defaulting on its domestic and international obligations.
(More here.)
Frank Keating is president and chief executive of the American Bankers Association. He was governor of Oklahoma from 1995 to 2003 and is a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Debt Reduction Task Force.
In this country, our word is our bond. The respect and admiration that the United States and its institutions inspire around the world are based on the certainty that when our nation makes a promise, we keep it.
Unfortunately, Congress seems poised to undermine U.S. credibility at home and abroad by taking the extraordinary step of reneging on bills that our nation has racked up. Ordinary Americans will bear the brunt of the damage if our leaders don’t prevent the United States from defaulting on its debt for the first time in history.
Sadly, we’ve been here before. The debt-ceiling standoff in 2011 is costing taxpayers nearly $20 billion as nervous investors demanded higher interest on U.S. Treasury bonds to defray the risk of government default. That manufactured political crisis caused economic uncertainty to spike, consumer confidence to plummet and stock prices to spiral downward — all because of the perceived risk of the United States defaulting on its domestic and international obligations.
(More here.)
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