Sen. Coburn: “There is no debt ceiling;” would “rather have a managed catastrophe now”

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) claimed that the debt ceiling does not exist and default will not occur if it is not raised during an interview with CNN Anchor Chris Cuomo on “New Day.” Senator Coburn maintained that he wants to negotiate with Democrats and President Obama before raising the debt ceiling and funding the government.

“The debt ceiling has never not been raised, so there is no debt ceiling. And by having a debt ceiling and then raising it every time, it allows the politicians off the hook for making the hard choices,” Senator Coburn said.

“I’d rather have a managed catastrophe now, which I don’t think will be there,” Senator Coburn said. “Here’s the thing that all the media does — default equals not raising the debt ceiling. That’s not true…. Those are two different and distinct things. I’m not saying we shouldn’t pay our bills. What I’m saying is we should put ourselves in the position where we have to start making hard choices now.”

“New Day” airs weekday mornings from 6-9 a.m. ET on CNN.

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