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Obama cannot raise debt ceiling on his own: Geithner

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner speaks to the media next to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) after his meeting about the debt limit on Capitol Hill in Washington July 14, 2011. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner speaks to the media next to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) after his meeting about the debt limit on Capitol Hill in Washington July 14, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Yuri Gripas

WASHINGTON | Sun Jul 24, 2011 10:10am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Sunday that after careful review it was not an option for President Barack Obama to raise the debt ceiling on his own by invoking constitutional authority.

"It is not a workable option," Geithner said on the ABC program "This Week." "This is not a workable option to limit the damage to the American people that would come from Congress not acting to raise the -- to avoid a default crisis."

(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky, editing by Will Dunham)
Politics
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Comments (6)
jalee wrote:
Geithner is correct for once. Too bad this adminsitration has not submitted a budget since taking office.

Jul 24, 2011 11:24am EDT  --  Report as abuse
seattlesh wrote:
Jalee and it is unfortunate that the Republicans did not see fit to fund two wars, the Medicare Drug plan and the TARP bailout. Instead they lowered taxes and we are now witnessing how well that has worked out.

Jul 24, 2011 12:18pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
NinoBookman wrote:
Let the debt ceiling be flexible – and then base legislative pay on the ceiling on any given year. More money for a lower debt ceiling. Pay for performance is not new.

Jul 24, 2011 1:23pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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