Today's Daily Caller posted an article about the posturing currently going on regarding raising the debt ceiling. House Speaker John Boehner has stated that the Republicans would only agree to raise the debt ceiling if spending cuts were put in place that totaled more than the amount of the debt ceiling hike. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney has accused Speaker Boehner of holding the debt ceiling hostage, which Mr. Carney describes as "extremely unwise."
Congress is expected to have to raise the debt ceiling within the next few months. There are consequences if the debt ceiling is not raised, but there is a definite difference of opinion as to what those consequences are--the stated consequences range from simply forcing the government to prioritize its spending to a total collapse of the American financial system. As usual, I suspect that the truth is somewhere in the middle.
This is the chart from usgovernmentspending.com showing government spending as a percent of the Gross Domestic Product.
We need to cut government spending. Otherwise we will become a welfare state with a constant unemployment rate of 8 percent or above. Putting conditions on raising the debt ceiling would be a beginning in getting spending under control. Hopefully Congress and the President can come to an agreement on a plan.
Leave a comment