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| Rep. Adrian Smith |
Congress faces a familiar deadline on November 3 to raise the debt ceiling. We have reached this cliff far too many times in recent years, when the federal government hits its limit on the total amount of money it can legally borrow. Failing to fulfill debt obligations would push our country into default and lead to potentially catastrophic impacts on our economy.
The debt limit, however, is not the real problem. The real problem lies in the federal government’s refusal to recognize the dangers of spending beyond its means, putting our country’s fiscal situation in peril.
There is no shortage of taxpayer dollars flowing to Washington. According to the Congressional Budget Office, federal revenues will rise by 7.6 percent and reach a record $3.249 trillion this year alone. This rate of increase is more than twice as fast as economic growth. Meanwhile, our national debt will still surpass the current $18.1 trillion debt limit due to the culture of spending in Washington.
An October 18 editorial by the Wall Street Journal cited numerous sources of increased government spending, including an $85 billion spending jump in Medicaid in two years under Obamacare and a $30 billion increase in mandatory Department of Education spending. The editors noted, “Mr. Obama’s takeover of the student-loan business is costing far more money than advertised.”
As Nebraskans unfortunately know too well, one of the most glaring instances of wasteful government spending has been seen in the failure of Obamacare-created Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans (co-ops), which received $2.4 billion in federal startup loans. Today, more than one-third of these 23 co-ops have collapsed, including CoOportunity Health in Nebraska and Iowa.
It defeats the purpose of a debt limit to simply raise the borrowing authority without doing anything to address the drivers of our long-term deficit. Any increase in the debt ceiling should be paired with significant budget reforms or other solutions to put our country on a better, more sustainable path.
While we push toward these reforms, the House passed a Ways and Means Committee bill this week called the Default Prevention Act. This legislation would eliminate the threat of default by requiring the U.S. Treasury to roll over any principal and interest due on our current debt in case the debt ceiling is not raised. It also protects seniors and people with disabilities, as it allows the President to continue making all Social Security payments under these circumstances.
Though we must focus on changing Washington’s spending practices, we cannot allow our country’s credit rating to hang in the balance.
Additionally, the debt ceiling deadline reinforces the need for tax reform. Americans should be rewarded for their hard work and encouraged to start businesses and create jobs, rather than being forced to feed Washington’s spending addiction through higher taxes. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax policy, I will continue to work toward a fairer and simpler system which removes barriers to job creation and puts our country on a sustainable path to economic growth.
The debt limit, however, is not the real problem. The real problem lies in the federal government’s refusal to recognize the dangers of spending beyond its means, putting our country’s fiscal situation in peril.
There is no shortage of taxpayer dollars flowing to Washington. According to the Congressional Budget Office, federal revenues will rise by 7.6 percent and reach a record $3.249 trillion this year alone. This rate of increase is more than twice as fast as economic growth. Meanwhile, our national debt will still surpass the current $18.1 trillion debt limit due to the culture of spending in Washington.
An October 18 editorial by the Wall Street Journal cited numerous sources of increased government spending, including an $85 billion spending jump in Medicaid in two years under Obamacare and a $30 billion increase in mandatory Department of Education spending. The editors noted, “Mr. Obama’s takeover of the student-loan business is costing far more money than advertised.”
As Nebraskans unfortunately know too well, one of the most glaring instances of wasteful government spending has been seen in the failure of Obamacare-created Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans (co-ops), which received $2.4 billion in federal startup loans. Today, more than one-third of these 23 co-ops have collapsed, including CoOportunity Health in Nebraska and Iowa.
It defeats the purpose of a debt limit to simply raise the borrowing authority without doing anything to address the drivers of our long-term deficit. Any increase in the debt ceiling should be paired with significant budget reforms or other solutions to put our country on a better, more sustainable path.
While we push toward these reforms, the House passed a Ways and Means Committee bill this week called the Default Prevention Act. This legislation would eliminate the threat of default by requiring the U.S. Treasury to roll over any principal and interest due on our current debt in case the debt ceiling is not raised. It also protects seniors and people with disabilities, as it allows the President to continue making all Social Security payments under these circumstances.
Though we must focus on changing Washington’s spending practices, we cannot allow our country’s credit rating to hang in the balance.
Additionally, the debt ceiling deadline reinforces the need for tax reform. Americans should be rewarded for their hard work and encouraged to start businesses and create jobs, rather than being forced to feed Washington’s spending addiction through higher taxes. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax policy, I will continue to work toward a fairer and simpler system which removes barriers to job creation and puts our country on a sustainable path to economic growth.
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