Your editorial on Jan. 8, “Our View: Congress should not use debt ceiling as hostage” should have been entitled “President should not force Congress to use debt ceiling as hostage.”

For the last four years Obama and company have been spending $1.50 for every $1 of revenue (taxes) so that in his first term the national debt has increased by $ 5.5 trillion ( yes, that’s a “t.”)

Recently, with the new taxes on the “wealthy,” the ending of the payroll tax reduction for most Americans, and all of the new “taxes” (per the Supreme Court) related to Obamacare (now known to many as the “Unaffordable Health Care Act), the federal government has just assessed the largest tax increase on Americans in our history.

And if he truly meant to take a “balanced approach” (his words) to the debt/deficit, why isn’t he now proposing significant expense cuts and why isn’t that the thrust of your editorial?

Instead, you want to defend Obama with a couple of weak arguments. You say 1.) that he could use the 14th amendment to bypass Congress and just increase the debt limit on his own (no president in our history has ever done this!) and 2.) that “some say” (who are some?) “he could mint a single platinum coin in the denomination of $1 trillion that could be deposited in the Federal Reserve.”

(If this were true, why not just mint 17 platinum coins of $1 trillion each and declare the national debt ” paid in full?”)

Did you do your research on this one? What would this do to the value of our dollar and our economy? Needless to say, nothing good!

Based on the opinions expressed in your article, I believe the president has a third option — just burn the Constitution. Then you may just continue to not hold King Obama accountable for anything.

Jim Burke is a resident of Cumberland.


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