Recently all sides came to some sort of agreement on the debt ceiling….which calmed the markets and makes the chance for another political drama to return in the next couple of years.
Just in case you have a short memory…..
The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, the debt ceiling deal President Biden signed into law recently, served its primary purpose: avoiding default on our nation’s debt, which would have plunged the economy into chaos.
President Biden also skillfully repelled the worst of the House Republicans’ demands, which included slashing social programs and government services by 60 percent. That would have utterly devastated everything from Head Start and Pell Grants to job training, housing and nutrition assistance, and even air traffic safety.
So talking points from the White House paint the bipartisan deal as a victory for ordinary people. But that isn’t the whole story.
The bill will still cut or freeze many programs that were already underfunded by the last debt ceiling drama in 2011 — even as it increases military spending by a whopping $28 billion, bringing the Pentagon to a shocking 56 percent share of the budget Congress sets each year.
The deal also prevents President Biden from pausing student loan payments and imposes harsh “work requirements” for some recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP aka food stamps) and the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program.
Work requirements don’t encourage work — they just make it more difficult for even eligible families to get help.
In a final blow, the deal cuts corners on environmental review for energy projects — and specifically greenlights a pet project of Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) for a highly destructive fossil fuel pipeline for his state. Authorization of this pipeline had failed every other legislative attempt.
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/abolish-the-debt-ceiling-2661138342
Is all this drama really necessary?
In the future, Congress should abolish the debt ceiling. It doesn’t limit debt — it just creates one hostage situation after another when the GOP refuses to pay the country’s bills.
If Congress won’t act, the president should intervene with his considerable executive power and invoke Section 4 of the 14th amendment, which says that the validity of the public debt of the United States “shall not be questioned.” He could even mint enough money to ensure there would be no default and no harm to families.
Democratic lawmakers and President Biden didn’t take any of these steps, instead opting to negotiate with their hostage takers. Next time, they shouldn’t make the same mistake.
This is all a moot point for the debt ceiling is no longer a useful tool so it will go to the back burner until the GOP needs it in 2 years.
None of this stupidity is necessary!
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”