Of what might happen if Republicans refuse to raise the debt limit, is beginning to emerge. According to analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center – if the debt limit isn’t raised by the end of February – then a chain reaction of events will happen that will ruin both the United States’ and global economy. To begin with, the Treasury Department has to make roughly 100 million payments a month, to pay for things already spent by Congress. Without an increase in the debt limit – those payments will not be able to go out.

Yes, in the short term, the Treasury can prioritize what they pay out first – and keep payments to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Education, and Defense going for a little while – but that would mean everything else would cease getting funding after March 1st. That includes food safety inspectors, prisons, researchers, courts, the FAA, and the list goes on and on. And then there’s the subsequent shock to global financial markets, that will occur once America defaults on her debt – and the benchmark interest rate for US debt skyrockets – forcing rates on credit cards, mortgages, and complex derivatives to spike as well. The interest on our debt will go up – revenue into the government will go down – and we’ll be in an even worse fiscal situation than we were before.

This would be a nightmare for everyone. Yet, it’s exactly what House Republicans are willing to bring about, unless President Obama agrees to significant cuts in Medicare and Social Security Insurance programs. There’s no other way to describe this than economic terrorism. And the President must cut off negotiations with these terrorists right now – and embrace either the 14th Amendment, or the trillion-dollar platinum coin, to raise the debt limit on his own.

-Thom

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Monday's Daily Stack

Article: "The Case Against Billionaires" by Thom Hartmann and Sam Sacks.

Article: "Fox News Takes on the No Billionaires Campaign" by Thom Hartmann and Sam Sacks.

Article: "Here Is the Full Inequality Speech and Slideshow That Was Too Hot for TED".

Article: "How Rich is Too Rich For Democracy?" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Scrooge & Marley, Inc. -- The True Conservative Agenda" by Thom Hartmann.

Letter: "Benjamin Franklin to Robert Morris", 25 Dec. 1783.

Article: "CHART: Typical Hourly Wage Went Up Just $1.23 In The Last 36 Years" by Laura Pereyra.

Article: "Corporate Profits Hit Record High While Worker Wages Hit Record Low" by Pat Garofalo.

Article: "Harder for Americans to Rise From Lower Rungs" by Jason DeParle.

Site: "The Equality Trust".

Site: "The No Billionaires Campaign".

Movie: "Les Misérables".

Movie: "Django Unchained".

Book: " Why Is Your Country At War And What Happens To You After The War: And Related Subjects (1917)" by Charles August Lindbergh.

Book: ""Unequal Protection: How Corporations Became 'People' and How You Can Fight Back"" by Thom Hartmann (free serialization).

Book: ""Rebooting the American Dream - 11 Ways to Rebuild Our Country: Back to the Future"" by Thom Hartmann (free serialization).

Article: "The Austerity Agenda" by Paul Krugman.

Article: "$10-billion settlement of foreclosure abuse cases said to be near" by E. Scott Reckard.

Hour Two: Platinum coin to fix the debt ceiling?
- Jamie Weinstein, The Daily Caller & Co-author-"The Lizard King"

Book: "The Lizard King: The Shocking Inside Account of Obama's True Intergalactic Ambitions by an Anonymous White House Staffer" by Jamie Weinstein and Will Rahn.

Article: "Letter to Joseph Milligan, April 6, 1816 (On political economy)" by Thomas Jefferson.

Article: "US joins misguided pursuit of austerity" by Wolfgang Münchau.

Article: "State of Fear" by Chris Hedges.

Article: "Ari Fleischer Says He'll Give Less To Charity Because Of New Limits On Tax Breaks" by Eleanor Goldberg.

The good: Alabama State Rep. Patricia Todd (D): "Alabama’s First Gay Lawmaker Tries To Repeal Anti-Gay Sex Ed Curriculum" by Dan Avery.

The bad: "Michael Savage: Time for a 'nationalist' party" by Drew Zahn.

The very, very ugly: "GOP Sen. Ted Cruz: "I Don't Think What Washington Needs Is More Compromise"" by Andy Kroll.

Article: "Messages To The World by Osama bin Laden - Thom Hartmann's "Independent Thinker" Book of the Month Review".

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Victoria Jones, White House Correspondent

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Article: "Supreme Court to hear arguments in March on same-sex marriage" by Sam Baker.

Article: "Supreme Court Ensures Funding of Research Using Human Embryonic Stem Cells" by Meredith Wadman and Nature magazine.

Article: "Obama to nominate John Brennan to head CIA, Chuck Hagel as defense secretary" by CBS.

Article: "Exclusive: Hagel says critics distort his views on Israel, Iran" by Don Walton.

Article: "U.S. may default on its debt half a month earlier than expected, new analysis shows" by Zachary A. Goldfarb.

Hour Three: Did Canada's austerity experiment work?
- Dr. James Stanford, Economist-Canadian Auto Workers (http://www.caw.ca) / Founder-Progressive Economics Forum & author "Economics for Everyone: A Short Guide to the Economics of Capitalism"

Article: "Challenges to U.S. Economic Recovery: Federal and State Spending - Statement of Chris Edwards, Director of Tax Policy Studies, Cato Institute,before the Senate Committee on the Budget - February 3, 2011".

Site: "The Progressive Economics Forum".

Article: "GOP Rep Matt Salmon: ‘It’s About Time’ For A Government Shutdown" by Meenal Vamburkar.

Article: "Mitch McConnell Won't Say If He's Willing To Let Government Shut Down" by Jason Linkin.

Article: "Last Four Years Were Worst For Public Workers Since World War II" by Pat Garofalo.

Article: "Banks win more flexible Basel rules" by Brooke Masters.

Article: "Conservatives Open New Congress With Unconstitutional Bill To End Birthright Citizenship" by Ian Millhiser.

Article: "Texas Nationalist Movement: ‘People Are Frightened, People Are Scared’ And Support For Secession Is Growing" by Anjali Sareen.

Article: "Supreme Court Declines to Hear Suit on Ga. Law Banning Guns in Church" by Michael Gryboski.

Corporate personhood in the carpool lane?
- Jonathan Frieman,JD, non-profit consultant / Center for Corporate Policy

Hour Two: Could prayer be back in public schools?
- Dan Gainor, T. Boone Pickens Fellow and Vice President of Business & Culture for the MRC

Hour Three: The unintended consequence of Obamacare...a nation of part-time workers?
- Wendell Potter, Center for Public Integrity / Author, "Deadly Spin"

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