Sarah Palin Calls Debt Ceiling Negotiations “More Obama Drama”

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said earlier this year that “if we were to fail to increase the debt limit, we would send our economy into a tailspin.” Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) took Boehner’s claim one step further, bluntly stating that such a position would bring about “financial collapse and calamity throughout the world.” But you can count former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin among the throng of conservative leaders who don’t believe the established fact that failing to act before August 2^nd would cause irreparable harm to the U.S. economy. Yesterday, Palin joined the growing chorus of Republicans accusing President Obama of “fear-mongering” in order to raise the debt ceiling.

Speaking on the Fox News show On the Record, Palin called the growing concern over the debt limit “more Obama drama,” adding that, while the “August 2nd deadline is looming,” “it’s not Armageddon, it’s not life or death” (it’s worth noting that host Greta Van Susteren immediately disagreed with Palin: “All right, you say it's not life or death. And there are 80-plus million checks that are supposed to go out by the federal government, give or take, after August 2nd. And as far as we know… if we go into this situation where we can't borrow more money, is that it's possible that some people won't get their checks. So it does become life or death.”)

Check out the full clip below from Mediaite:

This is nothing new from Palin: on the Fox Business Network earlier this week Palin called Obama’s ideas “the antithesis of those things that created the prosperity in America.” She’s also previously said that she would not support a proposal with any tax increases, adding, “if a state wants to do something a little special like extra roads, or extra museums and monuments and cowboy poetry, let that state figure out how they are going to pay for it.”

Like many in her party, Palin also refuses to support any deal that would have a prayer of being passed by August 2^nd. Palin has come out against Boehner’s newest proposal, accusing it of “reinventing the wheel here in the 11th hour.” But while she’s correct that we are nearing “the 11^th hour,” she continues to support the Balanced Budget Amendment instead of Boehner and Senator Harry Reid’s (D-NV) plans -- the two bills with the best chance of passing at the moment.

Senator and former running mate John McCain (R-AZ) took conservatives with this stance to school on the Senate floor yesterday. McCain rebuked freshman Senators for taking the situation hostage, demanding that they come to terms with the fact that a balanced budget amendment will not pass anytime soon:

“But what is really amazing about this is that some, some members are believing that we can pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution in this body with its present representation, and that is foolish. That is worse than foolish. That is deceiving… That is not fair to the American people, to hold out and say we won’t agree to raising the debt limit until we pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. It’s unfair, it’s bizarre.”

The criticism also applies to Palin, and other irresponsible conservatives that have taken it upon themselves to ensure a government default next Tuesday.

Jeffrey Boxer is an intern with Campus Progress.

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