Congress is getting good at manufacturing crises -- a group of Tea Party Republicans shut down the government, and now they want to take us over the brink by failing to raise the debt limit.
There's a lot of confusion out there about what the debt ceiling is, and what kind of impact we'd feel if Congress fails to do its job.
That's why we're focusing tonight's policy call on clearing it all up, so we have the facts we need when we're talking about this with friends and coworkers. We'll be joined by special guest, University of Chicago economics professor Austan Goolsbee, the former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, who will be on hand to boil it down into terms that people understand.
You should join the policy call tonight at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time -- RSVP now.
Right now, some members of Congress are out there telling people that not raising the debt ceiling is no big deal.
But there's a reason why economists are using words like "catastrophe" and "recession" to describe the potential fallout, and major credit rating agencies have said they might consider the United States in default if it fails to pay its bills.
It's a simple enough concept: Congress sets a cap on how much the government can borrow in order to pay its debts. Right now, Congress has until October 17th to raise that limit so it can pay the bills on existing debt it owes on things like Social Security, Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest, and tax refunds.
That's right -- Congress is in a huff about actually paying the debts it already took on -- something Americans do every day.
It's not a game, and when we're calling for Congress to end this extremist obstructionism, we all need to have the facts.
There's a lot to talk about, so don't miss tonight's policy call with Austan Goolsbee -- RSVP now:
http://my.barackobama.com/OFA-Wednesday-Policy-Briefing
Thanks,
Abby
Abby Witt
Deputy National Director of Issue Campaigns
Organizing for Action
