Cal Thomas‘ latest column accuses the president and his treasury secretary of using the debt ceiling debate as a tool to blackmail Congress:

One of Dictionary.com’s definitions of blackmail is “to extort money from (a person) by use of threats.” Substitute “taxpayers” for “person” and you have what the White House and congressional Democrats are doing with the debt ceiling.

In case you weren’t paying attention (and too few are) the United States officially reached the debt ceiling Monday. Treasury Secretary Tim (“I forgot to pay my taxes”) Geithner informed Congress of difficult decisions he was forced to make to keep the country solvent, which is a joke. How can a country be considered solvent when just the interest on the debt amounts to more than the entire gross national product of many countries?

Among Geithner’s sleights of hand to keep America from “defaulting” on its loans is his suspension of payments to federal retirement funding investments until Aug. 2. Whoa, there’s a brave move!

Geithner doesn’t suggest spending cutbacks. That’s because with Democrats, especially, federal spending is considered more sacred than money dropped in a church offering plate. Once it’s in, it would be a sacrilege to take it out.