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Get Rid Of Debt Ceiling? Not So Fast, Spending Controls Have To Be in Place
IBD ^ | 09/10/2017

Posted on 09/11/2017 11:01:00 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

In his surprise deal with the Democrats to raise the debt ceiling last week, President Trump went one step further: He proposed getting rid of the debt ceiling entirely. It's not a bad idea, but only if you control future spending.

"The president encouraged congressional leaders to find a more permanent solution to the debt ceiling so the vote is not so frequently politicized," said White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Her comments came as the Senate voted 80 to 17 to approve the deal that would raise the debt ceiling and keep the government running until Dec. 8, while spending $15.25 billion on emergency relief.

What's more, the real problem with the debt ceiling is that it is an effect, not a cause, of our true fiscal difficulty. The idea behind the debt ceiling is that Congress routinely and regularly spends far more money than it takes in, leaving the resulting fiscal gap to be filled by government debt. Without a debt ceiling and the accompanying political debates, the argument goes, there would be nothing to stop the government from raising its debt further.

But it really hasn't worked all that well.

Since the debt ceiling's enactment in 1917, the debt ceiling has been raised approximately 100 times, according to the Committee for a Responsible Budget. Since the 1980s, the actual debt "ceiling," or limit has grown 20 times, from $1 trillion to the current $19.8 trillion. Total federal debt is more than 100% of the economy, and the burden is growing fast.

Why is that? The problem with the debt ceiling is that it kicks in only after the spending binge takes place. It's the political equivalent of a parent yelling at a teenager after they get home late, then doing nothing about it.

(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: budget; debt; debtceiling; spending

1 posted on 09/11/2017 11:01:01 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Raise debt ceiling should be tied to line item veto. That’d work. Put the pressure on Trump or any president to balance or explain. Gets Congress off the hook.


2 posted on 09/11/2017 11:04:06 AM PDT by Reno89519 (Drain the Swamp is not party specific. Lyn' Ted is still a liar, Good riddance to him.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Government spending controls are impossible in our present Federal Reserve monetary system with a fiat, totally unbacked currency.

it is the foundation of progressive, socialist government. Note when the first “debt ceiling” was created - a mere 3 years after the creation of the Federal Reserve.

Its like a heroin user who is able to manufacture his own supply.


3 posted on 09/11/2017 11:04:34 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: SeekAndFind

Don’t see why these have to be somehow linked. No matter what the mechanism is, if there’s a desire to spend more, some creative way to get around it would always be found.


4 posted on 09/11/2017 11:06:09 AM PDT by glorgau
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To: SeekAndFind

Yep, the debt ceiling covers money ALREADY SPENT! Many, lf not most, don’t understand that. Try telling your credit card company you’re not going to pay your bill because your family won’t go along.


5 posted on 09/11/2017 11:06:12 AM PDT by Wolfie
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To: PGR88
Lemme see if I've got this right;

Congress has a debt ceiling so as to protect taxpayers from Congress spending too much of the taxpayers' future money. However, when the Congress decides it wants to spend more money than the debt ceiling allows, the Congress just votes to allow itself to take more of the taxpayers' future money that it was supposed to be protecting from the Congress in the first place.

But ALL this spending of taxpayers' future money could be eliminated if spending limits, determined by the very Congress that is presently supposed to be protecting the taxpayers' future money but failing to do so, are put in place....for the protection of the taxpayers.

6 posted on 09/11/2017 11:24:17 AM PDT by Roccus (When you talk to a politician...ANY politician...always say, "Remember Ceausescu")
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To: SeekAndFind

The Congress, the GOP and Paul Ryan are supposed to be our “ spending controls”
Not some imagjnary number worked out in back room uniparty political porking


7 posted on 09/11/2017 11:27:02 AM PDT by silverleaf (We voted for change, not leftover change)
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To: SeekAndFind

Don’t forget the press’s involvement here. If anyone tries to limit the debt, the press will blast them repeatedly as being mean, racist, heartless, etc. until they pass a higher limit on spending other people’s money.


8 posted on 09/11/2017 1:06:52 PM PDT by libertylover (Inhabitants of Earth with any freedom probably have the USA to thank.)
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To: SeekAndFind

We don’t need any more debt, and I find it hard to believe that the only way to pay our debts is to incur more of it.

Please call your Congresscritter at (202) 224-3121 and tell him/her “No more debt.”


9 posted on 09/11/2017 1:15:24 PM PDT by TBP (President Trump needs to reopen the criminal investigation of the IRS as soon as possible.)
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To: SeekAndFind

He proposed getting rid of the debt ceiling entirely. It’s not a bad idea, but only if you control future spending.


But we won’t, so it is.
If we’re going to financially rape our grandkids,
let’s at least do it out in the broad daylight.


10 posted on 09/11/2017 1:48:24 PM PDT by sparklite2 (I'm less interested in the rights I have than the liberties I can take.)
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