Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, and Jimmy Fallon goof on Biden's $1 trillion coin, other budget dilemmas

published 7 October 2021

"The big story today is all the stuff that might possibly happen soon, or not," Stephen Colbert said on Wednesday's Late Show. "Take the debt ceiling. If Congress doesn't raise our country's borrowing limit by Oct. 18, the entire American economy will have a cataclysmic meltdown. It would be an easily avoidable, unthinkable act of self-destruction — so, highly likely."

Democrats are considering a series of evasive maneuvers, like axing the filibusters for debt-ceiling votes. And "possibly adjusting the filibuster rules has Mitch McConnell shaking in his orthopedic wingtips, so earlier today McConnell said his party would allow an extension of the federal debt ceiling into December," Colbert said. "They're willing to avoid blowing up the world's financial system — until Christmastime. So, everybody remember to ask Santa for a functional economy."

The Biden administration could also solve the crisis with a $1 trillion coin. "Now, I'm no U.S. Treasury expert, but please do it. Make the coin, and make it as big as a manhole cover," Colbert said. "Fill it with chocolate, and let the Democrats win it in a high-stakes game of dreidel." Also, he added, "I think there's something so fitting about Biden fixing this by just pulling a coin out of thin air."

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The Tonight Show's Tariq Trotter cut Jimmy Fallon off when he started discussing the debt ceiling, but Fallon did discuss the spending part of the equation. "To get more moderate Democrats on board, President Biden is scaling back the spending in his $3.5 trillion economic plan," he said. "Biden is every person on a home renovation show. He's like, 'I want new countertops, a finished basement, and a remodeled bathroom, that's all. And the host is like, 'All right, your budget is $800.' 'Okay, I'll take a new shower head.'"

"The Democrats are fighting with each other over how to spend the government's money, and the Republicans don't want them to be spending any money," Trevor Noah said at The Daily Show. "As always, whenever there's a debate in America, the two sides retreat to their echo chambers," and "I'm guilty of that too." So he brought on his alter-ego/brothers, the right-wing "Trevarious" and lefty "Trey," to discuss the Democrats and their spending plan — and in the end, they did agree on one thing.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.