While at dinner with friends recently, I was informed that people like me are bankrupting the country. The shutdown of the government was supposed to show that extreme conservatives, also known as the Tea Party, are the common sense fiscal balance for the country.
I listened to the argument that to raise the debt ceiling meant that the government would continue to borrow money to fund social programs that we cannot afford and to continue to fund the Affordable Care Act.
However, there is one problem with this argument, and that is the debt ceiling exists only to allow the government to borrow to meet existing legal obligations. The debt ceiling is not a budget where money is appropriated for new programs or reallocated to existing programs.
The debt ceiling has, since 1917, insured the full faith and credit of the United States, not allowing the default of government bonds. The debt ceiling legally has to be raised when necessary.
The debate and shutdown and the filibuster leading up to the vote are only for political points. Senator Ted Cruz from Texas was already in Iowa last week two years ahead of the first caucuses. He said it had nothing to do with a presidential run and that his mind was totally on the Senate: so why is a Texas Senator in Iowa?
I am not surprised that a shutdown continues to be on the table for Tea Partiers like Cruz, since the only people really hurt are the poor-those that rely on federally funded community services for everything from cab and bus fare to emergency food supplies.
The people like me are the ones who care about the poor and have little regard for grand standing to gain political points at others’ expense.
Wednesday, June 25, 2025