The debt ceiling is a good idea that never worked out. In fact it has turned into a political football weaponized by both parties against the other. Originally passed by Congress in 1939, its objective was to restrain Congress from going too far into debt. When first passed, the debt ceiling was set at $45 billion. On August 1 of this year it was reset to $28.4 trillion.
The problem is, it never did restrain Congress. Every time the debt ceiling was about to be reached, Congress just raised it or suspended it. Here is what that progress has looked like since 2000:
So now we are again about to reach the debt ceiling. Republicans want to force the Democrats to raise it this time on their own, without any Republican fingerprints on it. And Democrats can do that, using the same reconciliation process that they are proposing to use to pass their liberal bills without any Republican support. Democrats want to avoid that, so that they can claim any increase in the debt was approved by both parties.
It’s all a matter of trying to score points for the next campaign, but frankly I don’t think it will make much difference. The country has become so polarized that an issue like this seems unlikely to shift many votes. Indeed, recent polls suggest that while the media is breathlessly following every twist of the Washington Congressional drama, most of the country is ignoring it.
Since the idea never worked out, I don’t see why Congress doesn’t just do away with the debt ceiling altogether. It certainly hasn’t restrained either party from increasing the debt when they were in power.
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