What is the point of a “DEBT CEILING” if we just keep raising it?

[jotathought]

Have you ever voted for someone that wants to cut spending DRAMATICALLY?

Yes .. the former Governor of Kentucky addressing an unsustainable cost for Medicaid.

 

[JohnDB]

I have been screaming for a balanced budget for decades.

Newt Gingrich got it done.

Federal Government Spending should be cut 50 cents on the dollar across the board.
The Fed is Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too big.

We are balancing a pencil on the tip and expecting it to stay perfectly vertical.

Some gubbermint debt is good.
Too much and continued extravagant spending is not.

The problem is the size of the American Economy. Just the California economy alone is larger than Japan's.

And between Social Security, Medicare, ALL Welfare, and Medicaid the USA budget doesn't have a lot of room left to do much.
School lunch, foodstamps, and highways are just tips of the icebergs of gimmefoodstuffs,

Cutting so much of the public housing and Medicaid programs would definitely help out with the budget. Cutting SS disability payments to substance disabled. (On SS because they are alcoholics or drug addicts)

But that's not going to happen.

Currently the debt ceiling is used as a finger pointing exercise of Democrats and Republicans. Nothing more.

 

[Concerned American]

A debt ceiling means nothing if you just keep raising it. The point of a debt ceiling is to cut spending if you are approaching the ceiling.

Just continuing to spend like crazy so you have to keep raising the debt ceiling is stupid.

Its just an arbitrary number that keeps raising.

The Congress should get rid of the debt ceiling because it doesnt matter anyways.

Balanced budget amendment.

 

[JohnDB]

Also....
Our gubbermint has been using Student Loan payments as collateral against its debts. (Something every corporation wishes it could do but the accountants know it will send them to jail like Enron executives)

With the current lack of payments for 2 years (and counting) and the blanket forgiveness outside of existing forgiveness programs that Trump was deliberately NOT keeping. (School teachers and etc) it's not exactly a good idea to do this.

 

[Concerned American]

The American people have no interest in fiscal responsibility, so yes, the debt ceiling should just be eliminated permanently.

Painting with a broad brush, there buddy. Many of us, Americans, DO believe in fiscal responsibility and practice it in our everyday lives. There are actually some of us who are totally debt-free when the US budget is removed from the equation.

 

[Rambunctious]

33 trillion dollars... did you all know it would take well over 2.5 lifetimes to count to 33 trillion?... which means if you started counting now your great grandchildren will still be counting.... that's how much debt we are carrying....

 

[JohnDB]

33 trillion dollars... did you all know it would take well over 2.5 lifetimes to count to 33 trillion?... which means if you started counting now your great grandchildren will still be counting.... that's how much debt we are carrying....

Inflation can get that down to a manageable amount....

 

[Rambunctious]

The USA could go broke in one day if the CCP calls in our marker and we would be forced to start WW111... that's how precarious Biden has America....

 

[Concerned American]

Thats the ONLY beast….really?

I agree the MIC is a beast, but its not the only government spending out of control.

We piss away hundreds of billions on bullshit.

Gender studies in Pakistan?

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Many of us, Americans, DO believe in fiscal responsibility and practice it in our everyday lives.

Yet you do not vote for those that do.

Why is that?

 

[Concerned American]

Inflation can get that down to a manageable amount....

That's rich. And you will have retirees on public assistance, burger flippers will be making $50/hr and you'll get to pay $100 for a loaf of bread. SMFH. Go buy some more crypto.

 

[Concerned American]

Yet you do not vote for those that do.

Why is that?

Please show me, with facts, that you ever voted for one that did. They all promise fiscal responsibility, but after election--that promise dissolves. You've never voted for anyone who got elected, so you don't know--and you, like any fence straddler, figure that somehow puts you on the high road. You are a walking, talking contradiction.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Please show me, with facts, that you ever voted for one that did. They all promise fiscal responsibility, but after election--that promise dissolves. You've never voted for anyone who got elected, so you don't know--and you, like any fence straddler, figure that somehow puts you on the high road. You are a walking, talking contradiction.

Thanks for the confirmation!

 

[BlindBoo]

It's a merry-go-round.

https://www.npr.org/2017/09/09/549215204/trump-says-debt-ceiling-is-not-necessary-is-he-right

The debt ceiling's days as a recurring sticking point for politicians, and a recurring worry for government employees, could be numbered, according to President Trump.

He told reporters on Thursday that "there are a lot of good reasons" to get rid of it, and The Washington Post reported Thursday on an agreement between Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to work toward that end over the next couple months.

Still, despite Trump and Schumer's "gentleman's agreement," as one Post source called it, to work to get rid of the ceiling, any plan to actually do away with the ceiling would need Republican congressional leaders, who currently oppose the idea, to get on board.

.......................


"Republicans in Congress raised the debt three times when Donald Trump was president and each time with Democrat support, but now they won’t raise it, even though they're responsible for more than $8 trillion in bills incurred in four years under the previous administration," Biden said.

 

[Concerned American]

Thanks for the confirmation!

Thanks for the non-response to my request for validation of your point. You are good at that.

 

[Nuthin' Fancy]

The USA could go broke in one day if the CCP calls in our marker and we would be forced to start WW111... that's how precarious Biden has America....

Then why are American companies still doing business with China, let alone moving their base of manufacturing there?

 

[BlindBoo]

The USA could go broke in one day if the CCP calls in our marker and we would be forced to start WW111... that's how precarious Biden has America....

China has been selling it holdings in US Treasury notes, they were down below 1 trillion in holdings. Japan is now of number 1 international holder of US treasury notes.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Thanks for the non-response to my request for validation of your point. You are good at that.

You validated my point for me. Yes, those I vote for do not win because there are too many people like you that will never not vote for the beloved party. You whine about spending and debt yet refuse to even try and do something about it. Your tribal loyalties are more important to you than spending.

 

[Markle]

The American people have no interest in fiscal responsibility, so yes, the debt ceiling should just be eliminated permanently.

In my opinion, the majority of Americans want fiscal responsibility, just as they do in their own households.

Politicians, on the other hand, demand an open checkbook in order to buy the votes of their constituents. "If you don't give me something, why should I vote for you?"

I agree with you, if it serves no purpose just do away with it entirely. Selfishly, I don't give a tinker's dam either way. I'm OLD, I won't live to see the results.

 

[Concerned American]

You validated my point for me. Yes, those I vote for do not win because there are too many people like you that will never not vote for the beloved party. You whine about spending and debt yet refuse to even try and do something about it. Your tribal loyalties are more important to you than spending.

You just validated your stupidity. The best that can be hoped for in any politician is their track record. If you vote for someone without a track record, you get what everyone else already knew. Nothing. But I understand--as you just confirmed--You're not wrong--its the rest of the world.