To: tejek who wrote (621883 ) 7/28/2011 11:13:03 PM From: Sdgla 1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 1577224 Its why we are in the mess we are in. The current mess is from the expenditures made by Pelosi, Reid and Obama prior to the 2010 election. Reid had the chance to raise the debt limit back in 2010 and decided not to. The GOP is taking a stand and your going to need to get used to the new sheriffs in town teddy. Why Didn’t Democrats Raise The Debt Ceiling Last December? Doug Mataconis · Thursday, July 28, 2011 · 16 Comments As we hurdle toward uncertainly, it’s worth noting, I think, that the Democrats passed on the opportunity to deal with the debt ceiling back in December 2010 when they still had control of Congress. Why, you might ask? I’ll let Harry Reid explain: Briefing reporters yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he’s glad the debt ceiling was left out of this tax package. And he was unusually blunt about why. “That’s something that we talked about,” Reid said. “My personal feeling is that I’m not sure — and a lot of my caucus doesn’t agree on this — but I think it may be better to do the debt ceiling, raise it next year rather than now.” Why? “I want the Republicans to have some buy-in on the debt,” he said. “They’re going to have a majority in the House . I think they should have some kind of a buy-in on the debt. I don’t think it should be when we have a heavily Democratic Senate, a heavily Democratic House and a Democratic president.” Reid was responding to questions being raised as to why he wouldn’t attach the debt ceiling increase to the bill to extend the Bush Tax Cuts, a bill the GOP would be unlikely to vote against. His reason? Pure politics. Not shocking to those of us who have watched Washington for a long time, but it’s worth noting that neither side is innocent here.