Bill Clinton ‘Inadvertently Misspoke’ on Debt Limit.

When I first read this, I thought that Clinton was 'misspeaking'. I could not believe that he would say that knowing what he knows. I wish these politicians would get their acts together and stop having to restate what they said the first time.

Former President Bill Clinton reeled back remarks he made earlier Wednesday suggesting a short-term default by the U.S. might not be so harmful. He said through a spokesman that he “inadvertently misspoke.”

The slip might have caused major problems for the White House by emboldening Republicans who argue they can negotiate over a debt-limit increase until the last possible minute–and even risk a default–without major consequences.

Speaking at a fiscal summit in Washington, D.C., Mr. Clinton said: “If we defaulted on the debt once for a few days, it might not be calamitous. But if people thought we were literally not going to pay our bills anymore, then they would stop buying our debt.”

In a statement, Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna said Mr. Clinton “did not in any way mean to suggest that a default would not be highly damaging for the economy even for a very short period of time.”

“What he meant to say was that if a vote to extend the debt limit failed in advance of a default, that might not be harmful for a couple of days, but that if people thought that we might actually default, that in his words ‘we were literally not going to pay our bills anymore,’ then they would stop [people from] buying our debt,” Mr. McKenna said.

The U.S. hit its $14.3 trillion debt ceiling last week but the Treasury has several tools to avoid a default until the beginning of August. On Tuesday, House Republican leaders said they planned a vote next week on a bill to raise the borrowing limit by $2.4 trillion but expect it to fail.

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