Senate Puts Politics Over Fiscal Responsibility In Debt Limit Vote

Kathryn Nix / January 29, 2010

On Thursday, the Senate passed a bill to increase the debt limit. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) amended version of the bill passed by the House will raise the ceiling on the federal debt by $1.9 trillion. This is a huge increase from the House version, which allowed an increase of only $925 billion.

Raising the debt ceiling by such a staggering amount is convenient for Congressional Leadership because they will not have to vote on another unpopular debt limit increase until after the 2010 elections. This strategy may allow lawmakers fearful of losing their seats to escape harsh criticism in an election year, but it will not address the dire situation of the federal government’s finances.

The Congress must raise the debt limit in order to avoid defaulting on their financial obligations, which would have far-reaching negative effects on the economy. But lawmakers lost an opportunity to prove that they had gotten the message inherent in raising the debt limit: out-of-control spending must be addressed. Instead, Congress has elected to simply kick the can down the road to future legislators. In the end, this will only exacerbate the problem. (more…)