Consider the debt ceiling
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
Editor,
With a crisis looming over the debt ceiling, you’ll be hearing that Republicans, the party claiming to support fiscal responsibility, are just trying to keep reckless spending in check. Don’t be fooled. There is a process where legitimate debate occurs about what the government funds, how much it spends, and how we should pay for it. It is called budgeting and appropriation.
Raising the debt ceiling allows the government to pay for commitments already made (about equally by politicians from both parties, by the way). Refusing to pay debts incurred is no more responsible than refusing to pay your credit card bill because, in hindsight you wish you’d not spent so much. Questioning these commitments is also, arguably, unconstitutional (14th Amendment, Section 2, “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law…shall not be questioned”).
If by holding the government hostage over the debt ceiling, Republican actions threaten to send the US into default, causing higher interest rates, tipping the economy into recession and threatening jobs, remember why this happened. It isn’t because government simply spent too much. It’s because, instead of negotiating in good faith about spending priorities and then paying for what you purchased, Republicans opted to point fingers and play brinksmanship.
Rich Harris
Charlo
