4 ms·

Someone help me understand, as a non American. I'm in finance by trade so I understand the mechanics here. When the budget is passed by congress, it is known th

Someone help me understand, as a non American. I'm in finance by trade so I understand the mechanics here. When the budget is passed by congress, it is known that the debt limit will be exceeded - this is fairly trivial to model. So why not include the commensurate debt ceiling increase as part of the budget bill?

Nekhrimah 3y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_debt_ceiling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_d... Basically looks like another exercise of legislating for the hell of it, rather than making lives better for Americans.
- whitemary 3y ago
  > legislating for the hell of it Correction: legislating for the rich Laws that favor very wealthy people pass through congress like a faint breeze on a daily basis (when congress is in session).
  - thoughtstheseus 3y ago
    Correction: + Legislating for the elderly. The federal debt may be ~$30 trillion but the funding shortfall for Medicare and SS is ~$100 trillion. Something needs to change.
nine_zeros 3y ago
Because this is a bullshit game of politics. The politicians come up with absurd ways of log jamming the system. They all want to use any tool as a weapon to get their way. Average people don't matter in America.
dragonwriter 3y ago
> So why not include the commensurate debt ceiling increase as part of the budget bill? This would be equivalent to just eliminating the debt ceiling, and that (either directly or in the effectively-equivaent form you have suggested) is the obviously the correct thing to do. However, it reduces the number of opportunities for hostage taking brinksmanship by a party that lacks a trifecta but controls at least one house of Congress, so it is difficult to pass while there is a party that (1) is currently in that state, or (2) sees itself as likely to be in that state and wanting to preserve the possibility of using that tactic in the near future.
- hammyhavoc 3y ago
  As a non-American, this seems simultaneously a very eloquent explanation to a quite nuanced problem—yet, what an utterly bizarre system to live under.
deleted 3y ago
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chris11 3y ago
Republicans are following the Two Santas strategy. The democratic Santa is increased social spending. The Republican Santa is cutting taxes during their administration. The debt ceiling is used to force the next administration to pay for them, either by raising taxes or cutting spending. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jude_Wanniski#:~:text=The%20%22Two%20Santa%20Claus%20Theory,Wanniski%2C%20the%20theory%20is%20simple https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jude_Wanniski#:~:text=The%20...

Nekhrimah 3y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_debt_ceiling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_d... Basically looks like another exercise of legislating for the hell of it, rather than making lives better for Americans.

whitemary 3y ago
> legislating for the hell of it Correction: legislating for the rich Laws that favor very wealthy people pass through congress like a faint breeze on a daily basis (when congress is in session).
- thoughtstheseus 3y ago
  Correction: + Legislating for the elderly. The federal debt may be ~$30 trillion but the funding shortfall for Medicare and SS is ~$100 trillion. Something needs to change.

nine_zeros 3y ago

Because this is a bullshit game of politics. The politicians come up with absurd ways of log jamming the system. They all want to use any tool as a weapon to get their way. Average people don't matter in America.

dragonwriter 3y ago

> So why not include the commensurate debt ceiling increase as part of the budget bill? This would be equivalent to just eliminating the debt ceiling, and that (either directly or in the effectively-equivaent form you have suggested) is the obviously the correct thing to do. However, it reduces the number of opportunities for hostage taking brinksmanship by a party that lacks a trifecta but controls at least one house of Congress, so it is difficult to pass while there is a party that (1) is currently in that state, or (2) sees itself as likely to be in that state and wanting to preserve the possibility of using that tactic in the near future.

hammyhavoc 3y ago
As a non-American, this seems simultaneously a very eloquent explanation to a quite nuanced problem—yet, what an utterly bizarre system to live under.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

chris11 3y ago

Republicans are following the Two Santas strategy. The democratic Santa is increased social spending. The Republican Santa is cutting taxes during their administration. The debt ceiling is used to force the next administration to pay for them, either by raising taxes or cutting spending. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jude_Wanniski#:~:text=The%20%22Two%20Santa%20Claus%20Theory,Wanniski%2C%20the%20theory%20is%20simple https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jude_Wanniski#:~:text=The%20...