Geithner: Debt Debate 'Ridiculous'

The Hill reports:

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday slammed the debate over raising the debt ceiling as “ridiculous” and said it is “irresponsible” for policymakers to leave the impression that the U.S. might not pay its bills.

Geithner also said he was confident that lawmakers would increase the debt limit, but stressed that he would like to see that happen sooner rather than later.

The Treasury secretary said the tussle over the borrowing limit "is a ridiculous debate to have."

"I mean, the idea that the United States would take the risk — people would start to believe we won't pay our bills — is a ridiculous proposition, irresponsible, completely unacceptable basic risk for us to take," Geithner said.

Treasury currently estimates that the debt limit will be breached in the middle of next month, and said that it has certain tools that would delay default until roughly July 8.

“What I want to make sure they don’t do is to take us too far into June, to take us to close to the edge again,” Geithner said at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, adding: “And so our basic message to them is: Let’s get this done and get it moving.”

Congressional Republicans say they will vote to raise the limit only if it’s paired with meaningful deficit reduction initiatives.