Uncle Sam’s Credit Card
Senator Mike Johanns
October 15, 2013
President Obama said in his 2010 State of the Union address that, “if
we don't take meaningful steps to rein in our debt, it could damage our
markets, increase the cost of borrowing, and jeopardize our recovery -
all of which would have
an even worse effect on our job growth and family incomes."
I agree with that sentiment. The President and Congressional leaders
should be talking every day, multiple times per day, trying to resolve
this fiscal situation. But unfortunately those conversations have been
slow to happen. It wasn’t
until last week, when the government had been shut down for nearly two
weeks, that President Obama began sitting down with Congressional
leaders to help solve some of the fiscal issues we are facing as a
nation.
Last Friday I participated in a meeting with President Obama and
Senate Republicans. We discussed two of the most pressing fiscal issues
facing Congress right now. The first is finding a way to fund the
federal government and the second
is dealing with our nation’s debt limit.
News coverage has focused on the government shutdown, but another
deadline – one that could have more serious consequences – is
approaching. The U.S. Treasury is expected to exhaust its borrowing
capacity this month. Once that happens,
America will no longer be able to borrow more money to pay our bills on
time unless Congress acts to increase our nation’s debt limit, the
amount of debt we can legally hold.
Respected economists predict that a failure to increase that limit
would harm our markets and economy. I’d like to avoid a default and the
consequences that come with it, but I know that we are on an
unsustainable fiscal path right now.
Our debt is around $17 trillion, and the nation has been running record
annual budget deficits. This past year was the first time during
President Obama’s tenure that we have not surpassed a trillion dollar
deficit. One reason 2013 broke that abysmal trend
was because of the Budget Control Act, which I supported.
It’s important to note that the Budget Control Act was part of a debt
limit increase, so the idea of including reform initiatives with a debt
limit change is certainly not a new concept.
The only way to get out of this death spiral is through immediate
spending reform. Then we can finally stop continually raising Uncle
Sam’s credit card limit.
At one point, the President apparently agreed. Then-Senator Obama
said raising the debt limit “weakens us domestically and
internationally.” That was in 2006 when the debt was under $9 trillion
dollars compared to almost $17 trillion
today. I wonder what Senator Obama would say about President Obama’s
fiscal record.
Like many Americans, I’m sick and tired of the last minute budget
brinksmanship. Also, like most Americans, I’m sick and tired of the
government spending beyond its means.
There is no reason we cannot solve both of these problems – ending
the fiscal stalemate, while also curtailing the government’s excessive
borrowing and spending spree.
The debt limit has been raised more than 50 times since 1978 and
roughly half of those debt limit increases were paired with reforms.
Just this past weekend the Senate rejected a plan to increase the debt
limit without making any reforms.
It’s hogwash to say insisting upon having a discussion about fixing
our nation’s fiscal house is out-of-line. The only thing that is
out-of-line is federal spending and our nation’s debt.
We should not fail on our debt obligations and we should not fail the
next generation by refusing to address the way the government spends
beyond its means.
~Mike Johanns
