On Fox News today, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) had a unique take on the debt ceiling crisis. Despite warnings from many in his own party about the consequences of not raising the debt ceiling — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said it would lead to “financial collapse and calamity throughout the world” and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said it would be a “financial disaster” — Johnson argued that Obama wasn’t doing enough to “calm the markets” as we approach the debt limit deadline. With our national credit teetering on the brink of default for the first time in our nation’s history, Johnson instead argued that “it’s only going to be a crisis because it’s going to be a self-fulfilling prophecy because this administration has scare-mongered”:
Contrary to Johnson’s pronouncement, failing to raise the debt ceiling would cause GDP to drop, threaten the fragile housing market, erase the 401(k) gains of the last few years, and possibly reignite the financial crisis.