America’s 'debt ceiling madness' will eventually 'deal the nation a crippling self-inflicted blow': columnist

30 May 2023

Countless economists breathed a sign of relief after learning that Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had reached a tentative budget agreement. The Biden/McCarthy budget, if passed by Congress and signed into law by the president, would extend the United States' debt ceiling for two years.

The mood among economists has been one of cautious optimism. If Congress votes on the budget this Wednesday, May 31 and it passes, the U.S. will avoid a debt default —which, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, could occur by Monday, June 5 and would be an "economic and financial catastrophe."

Liberal Washington Post opinion columnist Eugene Robinson, in his May 29 column, compares the United States' debt ceiling battles to "running with the bulls in Pamplona," Spain — only "with graver consequences for a false step."

"Based on what we've learned about the Biden-McCarthy agreement so far," Robinson explains, "it looks to me as though Republicans got relatively less of what they wanted, while Democrats got relatively more. The biggest win of all, for the nation, is that apparently, we get a nearly two-year respite from this ridiculous game."

Robinson continues, "Congress or the president should use that time to eliminate the debt ceiling once and for all….. It would be an unmitigated catastrophe if the world's greatest economic power, issuer of the world's most widely used and trusted reserve currency, were to turn deadbeat and fail to pay its bills. Debating whether Biden or McCarthy deserved most of the blame would be irrelevant. Interest rates would soar, and retirement accounts plummet, for Republicans and Democrats alike."

The columnist warns that sooner or later, the U.S. will suffer a debt default if the debt ceiling isn't abolished.

"Democrats should have tried to do away with the debt ceiling when they controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress," Robinson argues. "After this agreement is signed and sealed, Biden should look for a way to have the Supreme Court decide whether the 14th Amendment makes the debt ceiling unconstitutional, as some legal scholars believe."

Robinson adds, "Reasonable people need to stop the madness. One of these times, unreasonable people will miscalculate — and deal the nation a crippling self-inflicted blow."

Eugene Robinson's full Washington Post column is available at this link (subscription required).

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