Source: Reuters
With time quickly running out to raise the debt ceiling, the Obama administration is turning to biblical rhetoric to underscore the disastrous consequences if the United States defaults.
For weeks Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and other administration officials have been warning of an economic "catastrophe" if the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, which caps the amount Washington can borrow, is not raised by August 2.
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines catastrophe as "a momentous tragic event ranging from extreme misfortune to utter overthrow or ruin."
That definition appears to chime with the view of most economists, who agree that a U.S. default on its obligations would plunge the United States into a new recession and send shockwaves through international financial markets.
In interviews, speeches and news conferences, administration officials have used the word again and again. But instead of scaring Republicans into action and breaking deadlocked debt talks it has had the opposite effect.
Republican lawmakers accuse the Obama administration of scaremongering and many refuse to budge from their firm belief that a default will not happen, that the United States can keep paying its creditors simply by cutting back on spending.
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