To embarrass the GOP for taking a stand on the debt ceiling, the Obama administration refuses to deny the rumor that they may mint trillion-dollar coins to pay off the national debt.
When queried Wednesday about the absurd idea, which has been circulating for days, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney evaded answering the question. He said:
Look, there is no substitute for Congress extending the borrowing authority of the United States … You could speculate about a lot of things, but there is–nothing needs to come to these kinds of speculative notions about how to deal with a problem that is easily resolved by Congress doing its job, very simply.
He added that queries should be directed to the Treasury Department.
The National Republican Congressional Committee knows better than to ignore any idea that the Democrats might cook up and created a petition urging people to oppose the idea of minting trillion-dollar coins. NRCC Chairman, Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., said:
This scheme to mint trillion-dollar platinum coins is absurd and dangerous, and would be laughable if the proponents weren’t so serious about it as a solution. I’m introducing a bill to stop it in its tracks.
The coins would be legally minted: there is a section in the U.S. code that allows the Secretary of the Treasury to “mint and issue platinum bullion coins and proof platinum coins” of a size and denomination of “the secretary’s discretion.”
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