Greta: The debt debate and political chicanery

'Off the Record', 10/14/13: Greta says everyone should take note of the timing and beware of any red flags in the debt ceiling debate

By Greta Van Susteren

OK, let's all go "Off the Record" for a minute. I want to talk to you about the debt debate and how Americans need to watch for some political chicanery. It involves both Republicans and Democrats, and I want to make sure you understand this is not whether our national debt ceiling should be raised, when or how much, or what, if anything, should or should not be extracted or exchanged for raising it.

This is about those deadlines that politicians created - potential political chicanery by both political parties in picking those deadlines. Currently, the Senate is considering a deal that would raise the debt limit until February 15 of next year, but there have also been other proposals floating around, deals that don't expire until January of 2015.

Those are the deadlines we need to be on look out for. Why? Well, those deadlines fall after the midterm elections in November of 2014. That's the next time they have to answer to you, the voter. And if any deal, any part of it expires after the midterm elections, you know what that means. They're afraid of you, and they want to maybe hide something from you. They want political cover until after the midterms.

So here's my idea. If there is no long-term solution, rather than trying to hoodwink us with a January 2015 deadline of some sort on some provision, try this one: Make the temporary deal expire October 4th, 2014. That is one month before the midterm. That will a allow you to stop and think how you want to vote based on what the lawmakers are doing right now.

Isn't that fair? Now there's no done deal yet, but we need to pay attention to the timelines. Our lawmakers said there could be a hidden agenda behind them.

That's my "Off the Record" comment tonight. If you have an important story or issue you think I should take off the record, go to GretaWire.com and tell us about it.