TFD Opinions: The Debt Ceiling is Not a Bargaining Chip

The White House and Congressional leaders have been earnestly negotiating a deal to raise the debt ceiling. There shouldn't be a negotiation. Not only should the debt ceiling be raised, there shouldn't be one in the first place. For some reason, public opinion is actually against raising the debt ceiling. I'm hoping that's just because most people don't actually understand what the debt ceiling is.

It's true that it's a legitimate problem that the United States is $14 trillion in debt. But the answer to that problem isn't surpassing the debt ceiling. The debt is just a sum, not a law or a public policy decision. It represents the aggregation of the (mostly bad) decisions made by current and former members of Congress. Do people think that if we pass the debt ceiling, the problems will go away? If you want to decrease the debt, you have two options. Increase revenue or decrease spending. Those are the only two options short of our creditors signing a release. You'd think a $14 trillion debt would be enough of a crisis that everyone in Washington would agree its time for a plan to reduce the debt, but instead Republicans are holding the ability of the country to pay off its pre-existing obligations as a hostage until they get what they want.

Republicans like to talk about fiscal discipline through analogy to a household by saying that you cut spending when you don't have enough money. Well, if you want to get your spouse to stop spending so much, the solution isn't to threaten to stop paying the mortgage so you get foreclosed on as a consequence. I know it's asking a lot of politicians to behave reasonably but the debt ceiling is something that used to be off limits to partisanship and childishness. That's no longer the case.