The National Republican Congressional Committee announces an online petition today mocking Democrats for the idea of minting a $1 trillion coin to solve the national debt limit ceiling.
“Are you serious?” asks the text of the online petition, “Liberals want Obama to mint a $1 trillion coin to pay for his spending. Sign the petition to tell Obama: Spending is the problem!”
According to a release, the NRCC also plans to target Democrats with the proposal, placing their faces on $1 trillion coins.
The idea gained traction after New York Times Columnist Paul Krugman suggested it as a “silly” but perhaps a necessary step for the Obama administration during the debt ceiling fight.
“Should President Obama be willing to print a $1 trillion platinum coin if Republicans try to force America into default? Yes, absolutely,” Krugman wrote. “He will, after all, be faced with a choice between two alternatives: one that’s silly but benign, the other that’s equally silly but both vile and disastrous.”
Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., has also announced plans to introduce a bill that would make it illegal to mint high-value coins to pay government debt.
“This scheme to mint trillion dollar platinum coins is absurd and dangerous, and would be laughable if the proponents weren’t so serious about it as a solution. I’m introducing a bill to stop it in its tracks.” Walden said in a statement.
