The White House says no to minting a $1 trillion coin to sidestep McConnell and ease debt ceiling

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: Business Insider

standoff in Congress

The White House on Monday again ruled out minting a "trillion-dollar coin" to sidestep GOP refusals to aid Democrats on raising the debt ceiling, as the standoff in Congress over who bears responsibility for paying America's bills appeared to worsen with no resolution in sight.

"There is only one viable option to deal with the debt limit: Congress needs to increase or suspend it, as it has done approximately 80 times, including three times during the last Administration," White House spokesperson Mike Gwin said in a statement to Insider.

Politico first reported the Biden administration rejecting the step.

It closes off one avenue for the White House to defuse the tension as lawmakers barreled towards a potentially devastating default. Experts say the Treasury Department has the ability to mint a coin of any denomination, which could theoretically be applied here to avert a political showdown ending in default.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-white-house-says-no-to-minting-a-1-trillion-coin-to-sidestep-mcconnell-and-ease-debt-ceiling-standoff-in-congress/ar-AAODzKe

[Sneederbunk]

1. Too big a chance of losing it in the couch.

[Effete Snob]

2. Or it gets accidentally used as a subway token

[cstanleytech]

12. A 5 foot wide coin would solve that issue. nt

[Ace Rothstein]

13. But then someone might bring it to Vegas and put it in a giant slot machine.

[Xipe Totec]

17. Triganic Pu

The Triganic Pu is a unit of galactic currency, with an exchange rate of eight Ningis to one Pu. This is simple enough, but, since a Ningi is a triangular rubber coin six thousand eight hundred miles along each side, no one has ever collected enough to own one Pu. Ningis are not negotiable currency, because the Galactibanks refuse to deal in fiddling small change.

- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[Dave says]

25. O I needed that laugh, thank you!

[SWBTATTReg]

3. Interesting concept. Just curious as to the powers that be, in the administration...why not do such

a thing, mint such a coin (or coins, w/ somewhat smaller denominations)? At least, then one has somewhat more to negotiate with...

[Zorro]

4. Time to stop work on government contracts in Republican-led states

Notify the major contractors in states that have two Republican senators (I'm thinking of Texas and Florida) that the USG is stopping work/suspending payments/cancelling contracts for work done primarily in their states.

Let those contractors (Lockheed, Northrop, and others) persuade their senators to mend their ways immediately.

[fescuerescue]

9. The only problem is that they have contracts

I don't think that political differences allow nullification of the contract.

So those contractors would end up collecting, WITHOUT doing the work.

[Zorro]

16. A Stop Work order isn't contract nullification

It would throw a monkey wrench into delivery and payment schedules, but that's the mechanism that was used in the last Republican-manufactured debt limit crisis.

[fescuerescue]

24. I bet a civil court wouldn't see it as that cut and dry.

[TexasTowelie]

21. Why not Kentucky instead?

Considering that it is McConnell's obstinance that is creating this crisis it seems like the best solution is to go directly to the source.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. It's the correct decision, of course, not only because they would own the fallout

and the inflation and market consequences, and it would give Mitch or any Republican license to do the same. Not that Mitch wouldn't use it in the same position. And besides, Powell's Fed is helping all they can. Default will never happen.

[tinrobot]

6. Excuse me, do you have change for a trillion dollar coin?

I just want them to mint it so someone will steal it and try to cash it.

[Polybius]

10. It would certainly be every coin collector's dream

[LudwigPastorius]

7. Hmmm...the debt ceiling was raised 18 times under Reagan and 7 times under Dubya.

Yet, these crises, in which the nation is imperiled if it is raised again, only seem to occur under Democratic administrations.

How unbelievably odd./s

[fescuerescue]

8. Didn't Bush try that stunt?

And Congress shut it down?

[former9thward]

19. No. The idea emerged in 2011.

Ultimately the Federal Reserve Bank shot it down.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trillion-dollar_coin#:~:text=The%20trillion%2Ddollar%20coin%20is,very%20high%2Dvalue%20platinum%20coins.

[Polybius]

11. Who's face would be on the coin anyway?

[Pantagruel]

15. Put Mitch's face on the coin

Might convince him to approve it and would certainly deter theft.

[left-of-center2012]

14. "Two women tried to spend $1 million bill at Dollar General store"

Two women were caught trying to spend a fake $1 million bill at a Tennessee Dollar General store earlier this month, according to The Daily Times.

An employee of the discount store in Marysville reported April 5 that the women tried to use the counterfeit fortune to purchase several gift cards.

Blount County Sheriff’s deputies responded around around 10:00 a.m. and spoke with one of the suspects, Amanda McCormick, who said she “received the one million dollar bill in the mail from a church, but could not provide the church information,”

The women were ordered not to return to the Dollar General and were released without charges. Deputies took the bill as evidence.

https://www.wreg.com/news/two-women-tried-to-spend-1-million-bill-at-dollar-general-store-deputies-say/

[Rebl2]

18. I thought this

was from the onion at first. Had to look

[mac56]

20. Serious question:

How exactly would creating a trillion-dollar coin alleviate the debt?

[PoliticAverse]

23. It was a way to get around the limition of the legal debt _ceiling_...

Basically the government is limited by law as to how much they can borrow but there is no limitation as to how much money they can "coin".

There's a Wikipedia page that explains the issue...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trillion-dollar_coin

[Lucky Luciano]

22. They tried that on The Simpsons

[jmowreader]

26. My recommendation is to get rid of the debt ceiling

If the Republicans refuse to accept the reality that government costs money and the only other way to get it besides borrowing money every time the 2-22 Infantry at Fort Drum needs a case of toilet paper is to set taxes at a level high enough to pay our bills, then getting rid of the debt ceiling is the only solution. They raise it every time their fiscal mismanagement causes the debt to get near it anyway, so what's the point of having one in the first place?