Reply #26: "Wall Street tells Boehner Don't mess with debt ceiling or grave consequences will follow" [View All]

[jenmito]

Wall Street is listening to the 'debt ceiling chicken' meme and not liking what the Tea Party and Republicans are saying about messing around with it. John Boehner does understand the ramifications of not raising the debt ceiling, but unlike pushing the government shutdown to the limit, doing the same to the debt ceiling will have a much more catastrophic impact.

Republicans are growing increasingly concerned about the impact a bruising fight over raising the nation’s $14.29 trillion debt ceiling could have on U.S. financial markets.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has had conversations with top Wall Street executives, asking how close Congress could push to the debt limit deadline without sending interests rates soaring and causing stock prices to go lower, people familiar with the matter said. Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said Tuesday night that he was not aware of any such conversations.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has warned Congress that without new borrowing authority, the federal government could hit the statutory debt limit by May 16.

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The Wall Street executives say even pushing close to the deadline — or talking about it — could have grave consequences in the marketplace.

“They don’t seem to understand that you can’t put everything back in the box. Once that fear of default is in the markets, it doesn’t just go away. We’ll be paying the price for years in higher rates,” said one executive.

http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/wall-street-tells-boehner-dont-mess-deb