Pols Spar Over Full Faith and Credit Act Mandating Gov't to Pay China Over Americans
In a move tagged by Democrats as "political gamesmanship," the Republican controlled House of Representatives on Thursday passed The Full Faith and Credit Act which Democrats and President Barack Obama argue is "default by another name."
An e-mail blast from New York Congressman Charles B. Rangel laid out the implications of the legislation for constituents shortly after the vote on the bill Thursday and called support for the bill shameful.
"Today (Thursday) the House of Representatives shamefully passed, along strict party-lines, the so-called 'The Full Faith and Credit Act' that would basically pay China first," noted Rangel.
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"This legislation would ensure that if House Republicans cause a default on our nation's debt, bondholders from China and other foreign nations would be paid first – putting payments to Americans at risk … Even Speaker John Boehner admitted that Chinese bondholders would be paid before U.S. troops under this bill," added Rangel.
In a report on Tuesday, President Barack Obama warned that if the bill reached his desk he would veto it.
"American families do not get to choose which bills to pay and which ones not to pay, and the United States Congress cannot either without putting the nation into default for the first time in its history," said the White House in a statement on the legislation.
"This bill would threaten the full faith and credit of the United States, cost American jobs, hurt businesses of all sizes and do damage to the economy. It would cause the nation to default on payments for Medicare, veterans, national security and many other critical priorities. This legislation is unwise, unworkable, and unacceptably risky," it continued.
In response to the statement from the White House, however, The Hill's Rick Manning said the prognosis from the statement is "dishonest."
"Nothing makes my blood boil more rapidly than blatant dishonesty. So, imagine my reaction when I read the President Obama's statement promising to veto the version of the Full, Faith and Credit Act that passed 221-207 Thursday in the House of Representatives," wrote Manning.
"Really? American families choose every day which bills to pay and which ones can wait. Here is what the House bill actually does. It instructs Obama to pay the debt owed from borrowing first in the event that the country hits the debt ceiling and cannot borrow any more. This includes debt owed to the Social Security Trust Fund," noted Manning.
"The House should be praised for trying to deal with the irresponsibility of the Obama administration by instructing it to, in family-budgeting terms, pay the mortgage and figuring out the rest with the 90 percent of the money that comes in each month remaining," he added. "Republicans should have listed other priorities for payment in the bill, knowing full well that Obama would come out with the exact type of blatant political tripe no matter what."
