Yesterday during an interview with CBS News, President Obama turned up the heat on the debt ceiling debate with these comments to Scott Pelley:

Pelley:  Can you tell the folks at home that no matter what happens, the Social Security checks are gonna go out on August the third? There are about $20 billion worth of Social Security checks that have to go out the day after the government is supposedly gonna go into default?

Mr. Obama:  Well, this is not just a matter of Social Security checks. These are veterans’ checks, these are folks on disability, and their checks. There are about 70 million checks that go out each month.

Pelley:  Can you guarantee, as president, those checks will go out on August the third?

Mr. Obama:  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.

Maybe the lines at Walmart and the local grocery store won’t be so long that week… Continue reading →