A debt ceiling deal may be near, but the underlying problem remains
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
The debt ceiling can is now all but certain to get kicked another two years down the road. But the underlying idiocy remains.
The big picture: The budget deal announced with great fanfare this past weekend could and should have been achieved at much lower political temperatures.
- Over the past few weeks, the full faith and credit of the United States of America was put at risk. The president's top priority became high-stakes negotiations with Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the House — whose own job was in peril if he couldn't deliver something his fellow House Republicans considered a good deal.
Between the lines: When a politician puts his political career and the economic well-being of the country at risk, the natural assumption is that a bedrock and inviolable principle must be at stake. In reality, however, the stakes here turn out to have been downright picayune.
- What they're saying: "It’s like if a guy walked into a restaurant with a ticking bomb demanding to blow everyone up if he didn’t get a free peppermint," writes economics commentator Noah Smith.
Be smart: By its nature, the debt ceiling encourages disingenuous posturing by members of Congress who claim to hate the very government spending they themselves voted for.
- Most politics is disingenuous posturing, of course — but the debt ceiling needlessly weaponizes such rhetoric and wastes an outsize quantity of political capital.
The bottom line: The sensible and technocratic solution would be to abolish the debt ceiling entirely. But doing so would require the votes of politicians, who have become addicted to its ultra-high-stakes thrills.
