Bits and Pieces for the Week of July 17 - 23

Go Bill!! "Former President Bill Clinton says that he would invoke the so-called constitutional option to raise the nation’s debt ceiling 'without hesitation, and force the courts to stop me' in order to prevent a default...Lifting the debt ceiling “is necessary to pay for appropriations already made,” he added, “so you can’t say, ‘Well, we won the last election and we didn’t vote for some of that stuff, so we’re going to throw the whole country’s credit into arrears.'” (7 of 6)

"ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council... is sponsoring a... "legislative training and indoctrination session in New Orleans on August 1st through August 6th... ALEC will teach your reps how to present laws (pre-written by corporations). The legislation runs the gamut from union-busting bills, laws that restrict voting, privatizing and selling off your state’s assets, and laws that rid your state of those onerous environmental protections that make your air clean enough to breathe and your water safe enough to drink... Not only that, ALEC’s donating corporations will give your legislator a $1900.00 ‘scholarship’ to attend." (7 of 6)

"The bottom line is that the debt ceiling is a gun pointed first and foremost at Wall Street's head. And, there is no way on earth that Wall Street is going to let the Republicans pull the trigger." - Dean Baker (7 of 6)