Using the debt ceiling as a 'bargaining chip' is 'dangerous and irresponsible': ex-Treasury secretary

04 June 2023

The 2023 debt ceiling debacle brought on by congressional Republicans refusing to pass a clean increase to the United States Treasury Department's borrowing cap was ultimately resolved by President Joe Biden and House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California).

This cyclical scheme of holding the global economy hostage and dragging it to the brink of disaster by risking a default causes needless disruptions to the nation's overall financial health.

According to former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, the time has come to kick the habit once and for all.

"I'm proud to have served in an administration that balanced the budget. And I've been concerned about rising debt and deficits in the years since. But creating a crisis over the debt limit is dangerous and irresponsible," Rubin wrote in a Sunday CBS News opinion column.

"Consider what raising the debt limits does: it allows the Treasury Department to make payments on already existing debt. It does not authorize any new spending. It's not like buying something on a credit card; it's like paying your bill after you've already bought something on a credit card. As everyone knows, if you don't pay your bills on time, it's more expensive in the long run, and your credit score goes down," Rubin, who served from 1995-1999 under then-President Bill Clinton, explained.

In his brief essay, Rubin stressed that "threatening to force the United States to default on its debt is risky and irresponsible."

He therefore recommended that "going forward, lawmakers should stop using the threat of default as a bargaining chip, and use the normal Congressional budget process to deal with issues of taxation and spending."

Rubin's editorial continues here.

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