4 ms·

> I think the debt limit is a good idea as it forces some consensus about spendings. This is what the budget does. The same legislature that is full of people

> I think the debt limit is a good idea as it forces some consensus about spendings. This is what the budget does. The same legislature that is full of people saying they won’t raise the debt ceiling already passed a budget that implies spending money beyond the current debt ceiling. It passed, with majorities in both houses, and the President signed it. The negotiations were difficult. If we had an ounce of brains, we’d hold the debt ceiling negotiation at the same time as the budget negotiation. I’m not sure if there are congressional rules that prevent this, or if Congress just enjoys the idiocy.

makomk 3y ago
The thing is, it's not the same legislature in the sense that the US has had an election since then and a different party has a majority in the House of Representatives than the one which passed the budget with all the spending. The real question which I think the media is ignoring is why they didn't raise the debt ceiling enough to fund that spending for at least a year or two when they still had power. The cynical answer to that is probably that it was an election tactic: they wanted to convince people to vote for them using the threat that the Republicans wouldn't come to a deal on the debt ceiling and would wreck the government.
- hyperpape 3y ago
  The first point is somewhat fair regarding whether you can charge the current legislature with hypocrisy. It doesn’t really address the point that they’re gonna pass another budget this year under Republican control—so the debt ceiling is an absurd way to accomplish their goals. The second point I disagree with. The history shows that debt ceiling increases are quite frequent—almost annual. Most of the time it doesn’t provoke a debt crisis. While pre-handling increases with the budget would be better, it doesn’t seem to normally be done. It’s just sometimes the case that one party blocks the process (I think it’s true it’s mostly Republicans, but individual Democrats have opposed raising the ceiling and that’s completely irresponsible). So you don’t need an assumption that Democrats pre-planned this. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R43389.pdf#page10 https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R43389.pdf#page10

makomk 3y ago

The thing is, it's not the same legislature in the sense that the US has had an election since then and a different party has a majority in the House of Representatives than the one which passed the budget with all the spending. The real question which I think the media is ignoring is why they didn't raise the debt ceiling enough to fund that spending for at least a year or two when they still had power. The cynical answer to that is probably that it was an election tactic: they wanted to convince people to vote for them using the threat that the Republicans wouldn't come to a deal on the debt ceiling and would wreck the government.

hyperpape 3y ago
The first point is somewhat fair regarding whether you can charge the current legislature with hypocrisy. It doesn’t really address the point that they’re gonna pass another budget this year under Republican control—so the debt ceiling is an absurd way to accomplish their goals. The second point I disagree with. The history shows that debt ceiling increases are quite frequent—almost annual. Most of the time it doesn’t provoke a debt crisis. While pre-handling increases with the budget would be better, it doesn’t seem to normally be done. It’s just sometimes the case that one party blocks the process (I think it’s true it’s mostly Republicans, but individual Democrats have opposed raising the ceiling and that’s completely irresponsible). So you don’t need an assumption that Democrats pre-planned this. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R43389.pdf#page10 https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R43389.pdf#page10