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I certainly don't want our nation to go into default, but at the same time, I'm very concerned about our ongoing debt problem.

I do not want America to default on its debt.

A default on our debts as a result of not meeting our obligations would be a disaster for the stock market, and Americans would see their retirement funds shrivel up.

Nobody wants the United States to default on its debt. Nobody. But, at some point in time, we've got to address the fiscal woes of this nation.

After everyone has had a chance to bluster, posture, and pontificate, we are left with one basic question: under any foreseeable circumstance, would it be in our national interest to default on our debt? The answer is unequivocally no.

I think at the end of the day we have to raise the debt ceiling, because America pays its bills.

The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So there is zero probability of default.

Nobody wants to put the creditworthiness of the United States in jeopardy. Nobody wants to see the United States default. So we've got to seize this moment, and we have to seize it soon.

If we weren't running deficits, if we weren't spending more than we were taking in, there would be no reason whatsoever to increase the debt ceiling.

If we had decided on January 5, in the new House of Representatives, to make no new spending bills, the debt ceiling would've still been hit, because, those are bills that are coming in as a result of purchases and commitments made by the administration and the previous Congress.