I Raise My Debt Ceiling Every Freaking Day

Can't these politicians just do it already? Don't they have any idea how easy it is to raise a debt ceiling? Clearly, they have been living a privileged life for far too long. If they would just check with their constituents, they would learn that raising one's debt ceiling is a very simple affair.

For example, let's say you lost your job a few years ago when the economic bubble started to burst, and now, even though you are working two jobs, each pays only a little more than minimum wage and so every month when the rent is due you find yourself coming up short on what it takes to keep a roof over your head. Hello, plastic! Nothing like a handy convenience check from a credit card company with a promotional interest rate that will run out shortly after the six months you spend barely being able to make the minimum monthly payments on the damn thing. Bam! Debt ceiling raised.

Or maybe you're waiting for a paycheck to come in but your company pays on a two-week cycle and it won't hit your bank account in time to buy the groceries you need to feed yourself and/or others. Just swipe that credit card at Trader Joe's and let the fact that you'll be paying off that bag of soy meatballs at 21.99 percent aid your digestion! Presto! You have successfully upped the limit of your ever-increasing debt!

And then, there's the pinnacle of all debt-ceiling raising achievement: those magical months when you have to use the cash advance you took out on your credit card just to make the minimum monthly payment on the very same credit card. Slam dunk! Talk about taking the debt ceiling up a notch.

Even though they are not noted for paying any attention to the public, politicians have to start understanding that when it comes to robbing Peter to pay Paul, the working people of America have vastly more experience than their elected representatives.

James Napoli is an author and humorist. More of his comedy content for the web can be found here.

 

 

 

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Comments

[Charles in MI]

11:00 AM on 07/28/2011

I know this is supposed to be funny, but the analogy does not work. The debt ceiling is the amount the government CAN borrow, not the amount it has borrowed. A better analogy would be the credit limit on your credit cards, which you can't arbitrarily change.

[Maranda MassieGuthrie]

05:17 PM on 07/28/2011

nope, not necessary.. they need the debt limit increased to make the payments money they already spent! That's why we will default if it's not raised they cant' borrow money to help pay the bills on the money they already spent! So, it's a double default if you will, one on over extending their credit, and two if they miss a payment..

[James Napoli]

10:42 PM on 07/28/2011

Man, am I glad they are doing all this with imaginary money!

[Andrew Marlowe Bergman]

11:27 AM on 07/30/2011

It can if your credit is good enough.

[OneManRoaring]

09:08 PM on 07/27/2011

Your first paragraph holds the key. Too many of today's politicians are wealthy and are "in the game" for self-aggrandizement and to reap the benefits that a Congressional pension and health care brings to them.

They have no responsibility to the average citizen and many of them probably don't care. They are the elites. We need a government "of the people." We don't even have a government "for the people!"

It is sad, but true!

Support Fairness and the Common Good in Government­. Follow One Man Roaring on Twitter: http://twi­tter.com/o­mroaring

[Absolute]

02:09 PM on 07/27/2011

So very funny, so sadly true.

[James Napoli]

02:24 PM on 07/27/2011

I'm glad you found the funny, sorry for the sad part (nothing I could do there!). Thanks.

[littlefairy]

12:21 PM on 07/27/2011

Perfect assessment of many Americans' lives these days. "Even though they are not noted for paying any attention to the public"--no kidding! Unless, that is, there's something in it for them, election/re-election-wise.

[James Napoli]

02:22 PM on 07/27/2011

Right. As long as we can help them make their minimum monthly payments!