This is called Playing Chicken with the debt ceiling. If the ceiling isn’t raised, according to Treasury Secretary and person-who-has-had-just-about-enough-of-these-stupid-shenanigans Janet Yellen, America will default on its debts somewhere around June 1. If that happens, all economic hell will break loose, likely plunging the United States into a recession and potentially bringing the global economy down with it.
Republicans in Congress raised the debt ceiling three times under President Donald Trump without issue, even as Trump was adding nearly $7.8 trillion to the national debt. The U.S. debt increased $9 trillion during the eight years Obama was in office.
The ceiling cap is all about trying to alert that the Congress has voted to spend money it does not have. The Committee on Ways and Means has the responsibility for raising the revenue required to finance the Federal Government. This includes individual and corporate income taxes, excise taxes, estate taxes, gift taxes, and other miscellaneous taxes. Clearly the Committee has not done its job.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is trying to win points with the extremists in the G.O.P. by threatening to not raise the limit. Everyone agrees the government should not spend money it does not have. The savings the G.O.P. want to make are all on the backs of the poorest Americans.
At the end of the day Biden and McCarthy will reach a compromise. The consequence of no compromise will be devastating for the United States and the rest of the world.
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