Present Biden has stated that he will not negotiate on raising the debt ceiling. His position contradicts his own comments made in 2011, when, as vice president, he complained that some of his colleagues in government were unwilling to negotiate, stating “that’s not governing.”
The President’s comments come as The United States has reached its $31.4 trillion statutory debt limit, the threshold set by Congress in December 2021. Since 1960, Congress has acted 78 separate times to permanently raise, temporarily extend, or revise the definition of the debt limit. There has been no indication from the White House that it is serious about examining its own programs to determine how to hold the line on spending.
There are obvious reasons for concern about allowing the federal government to again raise the debt. Reason magazine notes that “Biden has overseen a noticeable increase in the deficit above the pre-pandemic baseline. According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a fiscal watchdog group that advocates for lower deficits, Biden’s policies have added about $2.5 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years.”
A BGR Group study note that “The national debt has increased under every presidential administration since Herbert Hoover. The United States has raised its debt ceiling at least 90 times in the 20th century. It has never been reduced…If government hits the debt ceiling and exhausts all other options, it can no longer borrow. Since the government runs an annual deficit, it will run out of money soon after it hits the limit and temporarily default on obligations. If the Treasury Department is not able to borrow additional money, the United States could default on outstanding loans and its credit rating may be downgraded by credit rating groups…”
The federal debt ceiling was already raised in December of 2021 by $2.5 trillion, to $31.381 trillion, which lasted until January 19, 2023. The Treasury Department has begun using accounting tools at its disposal, called “extraordinary measures,” to avoid defaulting on the government’s obligations, This will allow Washington to keep borrowing until June. At the point of exhaustion of those measures, absent a new agreement to either raise or suspend the debt ceiling, the Treasury will be unable to continue paying the nation’s bills and the U.S. will default.
Biden’s refusal to negotiate makes a bad situation worse, particularly considering his own fiscal irresponsibility. The White House maintains that it has reduced the budget, absurdly taking credit for COVID-related spending that stop as the pandemic ended.
But the key issue at hand is not about spending. It is about Biden’s aggressively divisive presidency. In September, the President delivered a stunning speech in Philadelphia which virtually declared a civil war against those who merely disagreed with his policies. He has continuously used pejorative language to describe other elected officials who have different ideas, describing them as “ultra MAGA.”
North Carolina Senator Tillis emphasizes that “President Biden has followed his advisor’s recommendation to go it alone. He’s pushed a highly partisan, ideologically-driven agenda. And you don’t need to take my word for it. [Biden’s] agenda [is] designed to pass with no need for moderation and not a single Republican vote. No consensus whatsoever. There are plenty of Republicans like me who are willing to work with President Biden and even put some of our supporters out of their comfort zone for the good of this nation. In fact, when he was sworn in, I said I would work to find common ground on areas where we may agree and vigorously oppose policies where we do not. Unfortunately, there has been little opportunity to do the latter. The willingness to negotiate has only been a one-way street on the part of Republicans.”
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