Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) on Wednesday defended his stance that a debt default would not have a large negative impact on the economy, and may be necessary in order to force the government to enact more budget cuts.
“I’d rather have a managed catastrophe now which I don’t think will be there,” Coburn told CNN’s ‘New Day’ with Chris Cuomo. “I’m not saying we shouldn’t pay our bills. What I’m saying is we should put ourselves in a position where we have to start making hard choices now.”
Coburn said that Congress and the President cannot continue to push off budget negotiations.
“The problem is, is we continue to kick it down the road and pretty soon everything is going to continue as it is until it doesn’t,” he said. “And when it doesn’t, that’s when the catastrophe comes.”
When Cuomo implied that Coburn and Republicans might be using the debt ceiling fight to gain political advantage, Coburn countered that it was just “common sense.”
“There is nothing about political advantage here,” Coburn said. “I’m the most apolitical person in the Senate.”
