Commentary: The Real Cost of the Debt-Ceiling Deal

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy spent weeks of negotiating to authorize $4 trillion in new deficit spending over the next two years. This means that our national debt will be $35 trillion in 2025. The interest cost will be up to $1.4 trillion annually, only a small amount less than the current cost of national defense and Social Security combined. This staggering debt undermines the future prosperity of every American.

Federal spending contributes to a sense of entitlement, including for every person receiving federal largesse. Think of the adverse impact of federal student loans. President Barack Obama promised that government-granted student college loans would be more efficient, but these loans have, in fact, ballooned the cost of college. Concurrently, colleges have reduced quality outcomes and propagandized students, undermining our society because many students are hopelessly in debt. Now, progressives in Congress want to terminate the provision requiring repayment of student loans. For many of our young workforce, the burden of high student loans precludes marriage and buying a house.

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Haley Hits Trump and DeSantis over Their Support of ‘Reckless’ Debt Ceiling Deal in 2018

As congress weighs another “deal” to raise the national debt limit, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is blasting the two leading contestants for the GOP nomination for their support of a “reckless” debt ceiling agreement in 2018. 

The former South Carolina governor points out that Governor Ron DeSantis was a member of congress who voted for a 2018 bill to increase the nation’s debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion.

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McCarthy-Biden Debt Deal Eliminates Unspent COVID Funds, Blocks IRS Expansion and Reforms Permitting

The debt limit deal struck late Saturday between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden rolls back some of Washington’s massive spending while delivering other conservative priorities like blocking new taxes and requiring some welfare recipients to work, according to a summary obtained by Just the News.

McCarthy described the deal as an “agreement in principle,” and it rolls back domestic spending to fiscal year 2022 levels while limiting “top line federal spending to 1% growth for the next 6 years.”

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Attorney General Skrmetti Warns Biden Administration to Follow the Law During Debt Ceiling Negotiations

After President Joe Biden said he would invoke the 14th Amendment if Congress did not agree to raise the debt ceiling, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti led other state attorneys general from across the country in telling Biden that such an action would be unlawful.

“We, the undersigned chief legal officers of 19 states, write in response to your recent assertion that you have the authority to ignore federal law and raise the debt ceiling without congressional approval,” Skrmetti wrote in letter signed by 19 other state attorneys general. “You do not. Our constitutional system may be frustrating at times, but it is the fundamental guarantor of American liberty, and we must all abide by the oaths we swore to defend it.”

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Commentary: Any Debt ‘Default’ Will Be Biden’s Choice

There’s enough revenue to pay interest on the debt even if the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling is reached.

Meaning, if the U.S. defaults on the debt on June 1, it will be because President Joe Biden chose not to make principal and interest payments on U.S. Treasuries out of existing revenue, for which there is more than ample revenues to service and refinance up to the current debt ceiling limit, $31.4 trillion.

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U.S. Faces ‘Significant Risk’ of Breaking Debt Ceiling in First Weeks of June: CBO

The U.S. government faces a significant risk of not being able to pay its bills in the coming weeks without an increase to the debt limit, the Congressional Budget Office said Friday.

The warning comes as Democrats and Republicans remain far apart on negotiations over the debit limit. The debt ceiling is the maximum amount of debt the U.S. Department of the Treasury can issue.

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White House Aiming for Two-Year Deal on Debt Ceiling as Talks Stall: Report

White House staff are reportedly pushing a deal on the debt ceiling as talks between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden on a potential raise of the debt limit have been delayed.

The White House is seeking a debt-ceiling increase that would push back the borrowing limit by two years, according to Politico. In exchange, they are reportedly agreeing to caps on “discretionary” spending, which refers to all congressional appropriations excluding Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security and some minor programs, according to Politico.

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GOP Senators Demand Biden Account for Taxpayer Money Used in Federalized GOTV Effort

As the Biden administration goes about the legally suspect quest of federalizing get-out-the-vote efforts, more than a dozen U.S. senators are asking for an accounting of the “Promoting Access to Voting” campaign. 

U.S. Senators Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Bill Haggerty (R-TN) are among the 14 Republican senators who sent a letter to Biden requesting full transparency on Executive Order 14019, which directs federal agencies to submit strategic plans to the White House describing how they will use taxpayer-funded resources to “provide access to voter registration services and vote-by-mail ballot applications.” 

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Commentary: U.S. Government Will Not Default on Loans If Congress Doesn’t Raise the Debt Ceiling

Contrary to widespread claims that the U.S. government will default on its debt if Congress doesn’t raise the debt limit, federal law and the Constitution require the Treasury to pay the debt, and it has ample tax revenues to do this.

Nor would Social Security benefits be affected by a debt limit stalemate unless President Biden illegally diverts Social Security revenues to other programs.

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Commentary: Joe Biden Gambles on Default with No-Strings Increase of $31 Trillion Debt Ceiling

President Joe Biden is set to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other Congressional leaders on May 9 to discuss the looming the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling. It’s about time.

So far, Biden’s only plan has been for Congress to simply increase it into perpetuity or else threaten to default, never bothering to address the dismal fiscal outlook facing the nation, even as regional banks continue to fail because of the unsustainable burden caused by taking on U.S. treasuries — a problem that will only grow as the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) projects the national debt will rise to $50.7 trillion by 2033.

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Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman: House Debt-Ceiling Bill a ‘Big Step in the Right Direction’

While President Joe Biden has preemptively declared the House debt-ceiling bill dead on arrival, U.S. Representative Glenn Grothman (R-WI-06) remains hopeful the budget-slashing proposal will bring big spender Biden to the negotiating table. 

“Some people question the will of Republicans to fight for a conservative bill. In my first eight-plus years in congress this was the most conservative bill that we have passed yet,” Grothman told The Wisconsin Daily Star on Thursday’s edition of the Vicki McKenna Show. 

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Tennessee Senator Blackburn Readies for Debt-Ceiling Fight

Having received an appointment to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee this week, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is poised to play a major role in this year’s fight over raising the debt ceiling. 

Earlier this week, Blackburn joined her Utah Republican colleague Mike Lee in penning a letter, signed by 22 of their fellow senators, insisting a rise in the federal debt limit must only happen as part of a deal to pare back government spending. In an interview with The Tennessee Star, Blackburn explained her view that fiscal circumstances demand such an agreement so debt does not snowball into an even more unmanageable burden on American families. 

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Conservative Senators Demand Spending Cuts, Fiscal Reform in Debt Ceiling Deal

Fiscal hawks in the Senate reiterated their demands for fiscal reforms and spending cuts Tuesday as they voiced their support for House Republicans to lead the heavy-lifting on addressing the nation’s debt ceiling crisis. 

“We have an opportunity to stop the madness, and it’s incumbent on the Republican majority in the House and Republicans in the Senate to use every lever point we have,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) at a press conference on the debt ceiling and runaway spending. 

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GOP Lawmaker Floats Mechanism to Default Spending to Current Levels to Avert Debt Ceiling Crises

With the nation stuck at its $31.38 trillion debt limit and the Department of the Treasury imposing “extraordinary measures” to keep the government running, one GOP lawmaker is floating a new proposal to default federal spending to current levels to avert recurring standoffs over raising the debt ceiling.

Democrats are demanding a vote on a clean debt ceiling increase, while House Republicans, in particular the party’s conservative wing, hope to match any such increase with spending cuts. The White House has thus far rebuffed calls from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to negotiate.

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Senate Clears Way for Democrats to Lift the Debt Ceiling After Agreement Between Schumer, McConnell

Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell

A bill that would enable Democrats to raise the debt ceiling without overcoming a Senate filibuster passed the chamber Thursday afternoon with bipartisan support.

The debt ceiling provisions were attached to a bill that prevents automatic cuts to Medicare. Ironically, the legislation, which passed the House on near party lines Tuesday, required 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, and passed after 14 Republicans joined Democrats in advancing it.

The provision was the product of a deal struck Tuesday between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Under it, Congress would pass a law allowing the debt ceiling to be raised with a simple majority this one time, and the bill’s passage puts the limit on a glade path to be lifted by Democrats alone ahead of Dec. 15, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned a default could occur.

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Retail Sales Beat Expectations Amid Surging Inflation

Woman shopping in a department store

U.S. retail sales increased in September, beating expectations amid growing inflation and supply chain disruptions, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Friday.

Retail sales increased 0.7% in September, beating experts’ estimates of 0.2%, according to the Census Bureau report.  The number rose 0.8%, excluding auto sales, beating the 0.5% forecast.

Sales were up 13.9% compared to September 2020, and they increased 15.6% compared to September 2020, excluding auto sales, according to the Census Bureau.

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Manchin Condemns Schumer’s GOP Bash After Parties Compromise on Debt Limit, Says ‘Civility Is Gone’

Joe Manchin

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin was once again at odd with his party Thursday evening, as fellow Democrat and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer laid into his GOP colleagues during a floor speech following a vote to approve legislation that would temporarily raise the debt ceiling.

“Republicans played a dangerous and risky partisan game, and I am glad that their brinksmanship did not work,” said Schumer, beginning a series of remarks that would target his colleagues across the aisle, including 11 of whom voted to end debate on the debt ceiling measure, allowing for the full vote to happen.

Manchin, who could be seen seated direct behind Schumer, as the New York lawmaker made his remarks, appeared at first to be shaking his head disapprovingly before placing his head in his hands.

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Yellen: U.S. Will Be out of Money in October If Congress Doesn’t Raise Debt Ceiling

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned congressional leaders Wednesday that the U.S. is on track to default on its debt sometime in October if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling.

Yellen said the Treasury would likely run out of cash in the coming weeks and exhaust its “extraordinary” spending measures to keep the country within its legal borrowing limit.

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Janet Yellen Warns of ‘Irreparable Harm’ If Congress Doesn’t Raise the Debt Ceiling

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned congressional leaders Friday that failing to raise the debt ceiling would risk “irreparable harm to the U.S. economy and the livelihoods of all Americans.”

In a letter, Yellen said that she did not know how long the Treasury Department could prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its debt, which could carry catastrophic economic consequences. The debt ceiling is set to expire on Aug. 1.

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U.S. Set to Hit Debt Ceiling Within Four Months, Congressional Budget Office Estimates

The federal government is on track to reach the statutory debt limit in the fall, which would trigger a government shutdown, according to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate.

The U.S. is projected to reach the debt ceiling of $28.5 trillion by October or November, a CBO report released Wednesday stated. If Capitol Hill lawmakers don’t reach an agreement on raising the limit higher, the government could undergo its third shutdown in less than four years.

“If the debt limit remained unchanged, the ability to borrow using those measures would ultimately be exhausted, and the Treasury would probably run out of cash sometime in the first quarter of the next fiscal year (which begins on October 1, 2021), most likely in October or November,” the CBO report said.

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Commentary: Will Diane Black Go Along With McConnell Again to Raise the Debt Ceiling?

In 2011, Rep. Diane Black voted for the “Budget Control Act of 2011” which automatically increased the debt ceiling by $400 billion to $14.694 trillion and subsequently increased it by another $1.2 trillion via the “McConnell Mechanism.” This provision introduced by Sen. Mitch McConnell allowed Obama to request debt increases which could only be blocked by a joint resolution of disapproval passed by Congress. Any resolution, if passed, was still subject to the President’s veto which could only be over-riden by a two-thirds vote by Congress. Twice the Senate failed to block the debt increases allowed by the “McConnell Mechanism” which reportedly was intended to make Obama responsible for the debt limit increase. Intentionally or not though, it also effectively and unconstitutionally allowed the President to exercise the exclusive power of Congress under Article I, section 8, “to borrow money on the credit of the United States.” Now as Senate Majority Leader, McConnell is looking to raise the debt ceiling again. With regard to “Spending Cuts and Debt” Black’s website, which doesn’t seem to have been updated since President Trump was elected, states: In Congress, I have voted against every blank check to raise the federal debt ceiling. A decision to…

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