Unhinged doctor Ben Carson told The Hill in no uncertain terms that he would not sign a bill to increase the national debt ceiling.
“If I’m elected, in January of 2017, we will begin to address the budget immediately,” Carson said. “We’re not going to wait until October or November to do it, when we’re backed against the wall. And I will make it very, very clear that there will not be any budget signed that increases our debt ceiling. It will have to be done.”
Ben Carson wants to be "very clear" about this. He is promising to gaslight a financial apocalypse by defaulting on the national debt.
It's possible, maybe even likely, that Ben Carson has no fucking idea what the debt ceiling is or how it works, but it's also possible he does understand what it is and he's willing to throw the entire global economy into recession or maybe even depression because of the number of digits that appear on an obscure piece of paper.
Considering the great wealth of insane shit that comes out of Carson's mouth, it's anyone's guess. Who knows the true depths of his insanity?
Carson's pattern of saying whatever pops into his head has catapulted him into the lead in the early primary state of Iowa. As far as I can tell it's impossible to go too far for GOP primary voters.
For anyone reading this who may not be aware -- raising the debt ceiling does not enable new spending. Raising the debt ceiling enables the Treasury to pay for spending which Congress has already authorized. For example, raising the debt ceiling today enables the Treasury to pay for George W. Bush's Iraq War. When the debt ceiling is raised in the year 2030, we'll still be paying for the Iraq War.