07/26/11 Jim Himes: Raise the debt ceiling and get to work

Dear Friends,

As you know, Washington is embroiled in heated discussions regarding the federal budget and the nation's debt limit. We reached our debt limit on May 16, but through some accounting gymnastics, we’ve been paying our bills. On August 2, that changes. If we don't raise the debt limit, checks to Social Security recipients and soldiers might not get sent, and we could default on interest payments to bond holders. Failure to pay any of these bills would almost certainly trigger the loss of our nation's AAA credit rating and send the world economy into a tailspin. Interest rates would rise, causing the cost of home mortgages and student, small business, and car loans to follow suit, not to mention the extra $140 billion per year our nation will pay to finance the debt for every percentage increase in the interest rate.

We absolutely need to cut our debt, but holding our economy hostage is neither smart nor responsible.

You don't have to take my word for it. Yesterday, the Stamford Advocate said it best in their editorial, "Raise the debt ceiling and get to work." They're right. The debt ceiling has become dangerous, dishonest political fodder. Some key points from the editorial:

Here's a news flash for you: Government sometimes does things that accomplish nothing but give the impression that things are being accomplished. The granddaddy of them all is the debt ceiling, a meaningless "limit" that allows our leaders to tell us debt won't get out of control, but which is raised whenever needed -- which is often.

The debt ceiling allows our representatives to hold the country hostage to massive hypocrisy. Much like use of the filibuster, politicos tend to be for or against raising the debt ceiling depending on the party of the president in office at the time.

Click here to read the full editorial.

If our nation is going to lead the world in the areas we know are important for our long-term success—education, energy reform, innovation—we need leadership in Washington committed to an honest discussion about our spending priorities. That won’t happen if we aren’t first honest about the process, about the fact that the debt limit has nothing to do with this future spending. As I’m quoted in the editorial:

“Don't use the debt ceiling as a negotiating tool in the most challenging negotiations Congress may ever have.”

It's time to move beyond this foolishness. Neither party is blameless for our increased debt, but no one wins if we send the economy into another Great Recession.

Thanks, Jim