[Costello:] To Washington now where yet another battle is brewing. This time, it's over the debt ceiling and from the White House to Capitol Hill, Democrats and Republicans are sparring over the best way to ensure the nation pays its bills. And now, they're taking the fight to you as both sides try to sell their point of view. President Obama warning about what could happen if that debt limit is not raised.
[Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] If congressional Republicans refuse to pay America's bills on time, Social Security checks and veterans benefits will be delayed. We might not be able to pay our troops or honor our contracts with small business owners. Investors around the world will ask if the United States of America is, in fact, a safe bet.
[Costello:] The Republican House Speaker John Boehner responding immediately to the president's remarks, issuing a statement that read, quote, "The American people do not support raising the debt ceiling without reducing government spending at the same time. The consequences of failing to increase the debt ceiling are real. But so, too, are the consequences of allowing our spending problem to go unresolved." Joining us is Amy Kremer. She's the chairwoman of the Tea Party Express. Thanks for coming in this morning.
[Amy Kremer, Tea Party Express:] Thanks for having me.
[Costello:] Safe bet you're against raising the debt ceiling without spending cuts.
[Kremer:] Right, absolutely. The problem is the spending cuts never come. The Republicans find themselves in the situation all the time happened with Reagan and it happened with Bush 41, and then even with the sequester. The sequester has been put off for two months. The spending cuts never come. And we cannot continue down this path with over $16 trillion in debt, and a deficit of $1.4 trillion to $1.6 trillion per year. That means we're spending $1.6 million more per year than we're actually bringing in.
[Costello:] You've accused the president of using scare tactics. What do you mean by that? Do you think he's lying about what could happen?
[Kremer:] This is the thing is, you know what? First of all, it's not Congress that determines if we default. It's the Treasury. So I guess that would be Secretary Timothy Geithner if he's still there. It would be the Treasury that would decide. But we have enough money to pay the interest on our debt, I believe it's $2.5 trillion comes into the Treasury every year. That's enough money to pay the interest on the debt. We're not going to cut off payments to seniors on their Social Security and Medicare, and then the military
[Costello:] But, Amy, we saw what happened the last time when we argued about the debt ceiling. Our credit rating was downgraded. That is partisan gridlock.
[Kremer:] That is a massive amount of debt.
[Costello:] It was because of partisan gridlock.
[Kremer:] I disagree on that.
[Costello:] And Congress is not being able to get its act together. We've seen what could happen. It will have consequences on the economy.
[Kremer:] Congress needs to get their act together. But this is the thing you know what? The president understood the debt that we had when he ran for office. He promised to pay down the deficit at least half in his first term. The first two years of his first term, he had a Democratic Congress House and Senate. He could have done anything he wanted. Instead, he put through an $800 billion stimulus bill and a $1.7 trillion Obamacare. If he wasn't going to address it then, when is he going to address it? Because he doesn't he is essentially holding Congress hostage right now and the American people with these scare tactics.
[Costello:] OK, Newt Gingrich addressed this whole issue on CBS this morning, and I'm just going to read you what he said.
[Kremer:] Right.
[Costello:] He said it isn't a smart fight for congressional Republicans to pick, because, quote, "In the end, it's a threat they can't sustain. No one is going to default. No one is going to allow the United States to not pay its bills. No one is going to accept the economic costs. It rallies the entire business community to the president's side." So even Newt Gingrich says this isn't a wise fight to pick. You may feel strongly about spending cuts but this isn't the right time to fight.
[Kremer:] When is the right time? When is the right time? Because the spending cuts never come. You know what? It's not going to be easy, but both parties need to get their act together and go to the table and say we have to rein in this out of control spending. We don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem and the American people are realizing that.
[Costello:] Well, the American people reelected President Obama, which says to me the majority of Americans don't want smaller government, don't want huge spending cuts.
[Kremer:] The American people
[Costello:] They want Congress to work together to get its act together and get the economy moving.
[Kremer:] The American people also elected another House of Representatives, a Republican House of Representatives, and that is our most direct form of representation in the federal government, the House of Representatives, and they're the ones that control the purse strings. We have to do something. We have this isn't the thing is this is not about party politics. This is about the solvency of this country. It is about this country being the greatest nation on earth that we always have been. We cannot continue it's our greatest threat to our national security.
[Costello:] Some people would say it is about party politics and some people, frankly, blame the Tea Party for this terrible gridlock in the House of Representatives. I mean, there's a Tea Party group in south Florida that's going to change its name to not include the Tea Party because the public reacts so negatively to that title now.
[Kremer:] Well, I think that's because we have been, I mean just given a bad rap. All we're about is fiscal responsibility. We're not about social issues. All we want is Washington to live within their means, just like families and businesses do across America every day. That's all we want, nothing else. I mean, if they could get their act together and do that, things would get better. But right now, there's no confidence in Washington, no one is putting any money in their companies or hiring people because there's no confidence.
[Costello:] Amy Kremer thank you for coming in.
[Kremer:] Thanks for having me.
[Costello:] We appreciate it.
[Kremer:] Thank you.
[Costello:] The one-time hero of cycling opens up to Oprah on performance-enhancing drugs. But can Lance Armstrong redeem himself? It's our talk back question today.