Today the Senate, and tomorrow the House, are expected to vote on resolutions (S.J. Res. 26 and H.J. Res. 99 respectively) that disapprove of President Obama’s suspension of the debt ceiling until February 7th. One of the provisions of the Continuing Resolution/Debt Limit compromise (H.R. 2775) of only about two weeks ago was to give Congress the chance to end the suspension of the debt limit via an expedited resolution process. Technically, this does give Congress back some of the “power of the purse” it abdicated via yet another debt ceiling suspension, but the truth is that this will be little more than a show vote.
Nothing short of a miracle could give S.J. Res. 26 the votes it needs to pass in the Senate. Across the Hill, H.J. Res. 99 is expected to pass the House and promptly stall, as it will neither be able to pass the Senate nor garner anywhere near enough votes to override a veto from the President (should the unthinkable happen in the Senate). This means a free-pass for many Members who want the chance to say they oppose overspending without any real-world implications.
The resolutions at hand are far from the serious reforms we urgently need. Rather than continue on this unsustainable trajectory, in which debt ceiling increases are routine, Congress must demonstrate a clear, credible plan to reduce expenditures.
Continually raising the debt limit without the serious reforms necessary to rein in our out-of-control spending only compounds the uncertainty and drag that weighs down our economy and potential for growth. It is likewise a moral imperative not to continue taking out lines of credit at the expense of future generations whose own prosperity is equally uncertain.
It is essential that Congress adheres to the principles NTU repeatedly outlined during consideration of H.R. 2775:
1. Do not raise taxes
2. Resist the temptation to include extraneous measures
3. Preserve the sequester
4. Enact meaningful entitlement reform.
Our debt and spending problem is so massive, even the most aggressive, confiscatory tax plans can’t begin to fill the hole left by profligate legislators and administrations – not to mention the negative economic consequences of such tax schemes. Loading down “must-pass” legislation with other favored projects obscures the issue, and unnecessarily muddies the water in the search for votes.
Failing to address the real spending problem at the heart of repeated “debt ceiling crises” by dismantling the sequester or failing to enact meaningful entitlement reform only makes these issues increasingly hard to tackle and ensures that just a few short months from now we’ll be here again, looking up from the bottom of an even deeper hole.
Go here to tell Congress to “Keep the Caps” and stop the spending binge.