American Consequences - December 2020

THE EXPLODING DEBT CRISIS

Under the Constitution, Congress retains the power to authorize hikes in the borrowing authority of the government. If Congress refuses to hike the debt ceiling, it can limit spending and effectively implement a balanced budget through statute. A winning strategy would be for Congress to not hike the debt limit and move toward a BBA that would start the process of cutting spending. All of this debt has become a national security threat and a debt passed on to future generations. In addition to the sheer immorality of passing debt on to our kids, we may be passing along a government that is about to implode caused by crushing debt. Congress needs to focus on this issue over the next few years or our nation is cooked. Debt is an existential threat to the future of America, and it is time for Washington to do something about it. Brian Darling is former counsel and senior communications director for Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). He also is a seven-year veteran of The Heritage Foundation where he was senior fellow for government studies. permanently raise, temporarily extend, or revise the definition of the debt limit – 49 times under Republican presidents and 29 times under Democratic presidents.” If Congress refuses to hike the debt ceiling, it can limit spending and effectively implement a balanced budget through statute.

That battle was lost, but it resulted in a deal cut that created a new “Sequester.” The deal that Speaker of the House John Boehner struck with the Tea Party resulted in the formation of a Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, which could not come to a deal to cut spending. This resulted in automatic cuts divided between security and non-security-related social programs – the “sequestration.” And with yet another Sequester, Congress found a way around it. The one law that can restrain spending is for members of Congress to hold the line and not hike the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling is a statutory limit on the amount of national debt that can be incurred by the federal government. According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, “since 1960, Congress has acted 78 separate times to

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December 2020

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