Obama says he cannot guarantee Social Security checks will go out on August 3

Source

President Obama on Tuesday said he cannot guarantee that retirees will receive their Social Security checks August 3 if Democrats and Republicans in Washington do not reach an agreement on reducing the deficit in the coming weeks.

"I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it," Mr. Obama said in an interview with CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley, according to excerpts released by CBS News.

This really makes the debt-ceiling debate become very serious. The retirees not being able to collect their Social Security checks would be dire for every elected official and I think they know it. Obama is drawing this line in the sand and hoping it will be what breaks the Republicans, knowing SS checks are on the line. How his announcement will play out as of right now is uncertain but it would seem that any threats to SS checks would make all politicians run to the negotiation table. But that does not appear to be the case as Republicans are stepping up their opposition.

I am trying to think of this several different ways. 1 is the direct political results such as who would take the blame. 2 is how will the retirees and other Americans relying on the Feds respond. 3 is how bad would that cripple our economy. 4 could this be the straw that 'breaks the camel's back?

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