At a townhall meeting on July 23, 2011, Rep Pete Stark said that he believes the debt limit is a 'political charade'. Stark says, "You've heard a lot about the Debt Limit. And I guess that's - I don't know how many of you are worried about it or concerned about it. The fact is I think it's a political charade.

I'm afraid that the Democrats have done that in the past, threatened to shut down the government. I don't think there's a chance that it will happen. I think the last time somebody did, they lost enough seats in the House of Representatives to convince them it was a dumbest thing they ever did. [It] doesn't get us anywhere, it doesn't help anybody, and to extend the Debt Limit is nothing more - than people have described it - than that the government's credit card doesn't run out of resources.