The debt-ceiling bill passed the House 314–117 in a bipartisan vote Wednesday evening.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, but not Hakeem Jeffries or any of the Democratic leadership in the House, sat at the negotiating table working on this bill. Yet it strangely received greater support from Democrats than Republicans. Republicans voted in the affirmative by a 149–71 margin and Democrats backed it 165–46, so just slight differences in support exist between the two parties. Still, with the legislation repeatedly dubbed “McCarthy’s bill,” one might think its support would come primarily from McCarthy’s caucus. It did not. (READ MORE: Biden and McCarthy Are Playing Treasury Roulette)
The forces of limited government, of course, held the power in the negotiations. Democrats wanted them to compromise their principles. They wanted Congress, after putting the federal government $32 trillion in the red, to empower big spenders to propel us further into debt, without monetary limits, over the next 19 months. Biden wanted something from McCarthy, not the reverse.
So why does it feel like the guy wanting something got something in exchange for getting something? Even Peter Minuit gave something to get Manhattan. This deal feels, in many parts, as though Democrats received the power to borrow more in exchange for more of what they wanted.
Reason for Discouragement on the Debt-Ceiling Deal
The bill contains elements that should encourage conservatives, including caps on spending that require bureaucrats to produce a cut equal to or greater than any rise in spending within their fiefdoms. It guts much of the Biden administration’s efforts to create a more muscular IRS better able to bully taxpayers. And, of course, it allows the federal government to fulfill its obligations without defaulting and jeopardizing its credit.
But so much boasted about by McCarthy and his votaries puts the con in conservative.
An American Action Network ad, for instance, touted the “work requirements for welfare” as an example of how McCarthy delivered for the Right. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the changes to welfare actually increase spending.
On the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), for instance: “CBO estimates that all of the changes to SNAP work requirements would increase direct spending by $2.1 billion over the 2023–2033 period. During the 2025–2030 period, when the group of people up to the age of 54 would be subject to the work requirement and the new exclusions were in effect, approximately 78,000 people would gain benefits in an average month, on net (an increase of about 0.2 percent in the total number of people receiving SNAP benefits).”
In exchange for applying work requirements to people up to 54 instead of the current 49 limit, McCarthy agreed to remove work requirements for, according to the CBO, “people experiencing homelessness, veterans, and people ages 18 to 24 who were in foster care when they turned 18.” So, because of this bill, more people, not fewer, can receive welfare while remaining shiftless and nonproductive.
All that money “clawed” back from COVID-era spending? “CBO estimates that title would permanently rescind $27.1 billion in budget authority, reducing outlays by $11 billion over the 2023–2033 period.”
The Mountain Valley Pipeline “concession” strikes as the biggest lie of all. Back in August, when Democrats needed Joe Manchin’s vote for the Inflation Reduction Act, they did so by promising to complete the Mountain Valley Pipeline without further interference. The New York Times even memorialized that deal with the headline: “Manchin Won a Pledge by Democrats to Finish a Contested Pipeline.” Placing into the bill a concession that Democrats had already granted nine months ago looks like a Jedi mind trick. Why not also twist Biden’s arm into guaranteeing that the government cannot force homeowners to quarter solders during peacetime?
Conservatives Must Complete These Two Tasks
The good news? In less than two years, Congress does it all again. Conservatives see two crucial items on its to-do list — one in the realm of ideas and the other in the realm of action — to fulfill to win in January 2025.
Somewhere along the line, prudence became irresponsible and incontinence became sensible. Conservatives need to persuade that the reverse is true.
First, conservatives must reverse the narrative that people refusing to go further into debt represent recklessness and people wanting to perpetually borrow to pay bills represent responsibility. The real default already happened when the Federal Reserve created almost $9 trillion to lend to the federal government, which, through the inflation that predictably ensued, repaid the bondholders with dollars worth less than the ones initially lent. This resulted in what those advocating for a debt ceiling in the stratosphere keep warning us about if we do not borrow more: rising interest rates. As a result of the cascading effect of such quiet defaults, the feds spent about $185 billion on interest payments on the debt in the third quarter of 2022, $213 in the fourth quarter, and $232 billion in the 2023’s first quarter. Notice a trend? Somewhere along the line, prudence became irresponsible and incontinence became sensible. Conservatives need to persuade that the reverse is true. (READ MORE: McCarthy, Debt Ceiling Deal Is Not a Win)
Second, conservatives must pass a bill that prioritizes spending for interest on the debt, Social Security, Medicare, veterans, and defense in case of a debt-ceiling emergency. In ensuring that the hundreds of billions arriving in the treasury every month unrelated to borrowing go to agreed-upon priorities, such a law would pressure legislators to spend within the country’s means and end the implicit blackmail — let us to borrow more or else we default and ruin our credit — that nudges congressmen normally averse to big government voting for it. If reaching the debt limit in no way risked default or imperiled the defense of the nation, how many of the 149 House Republicans who voted to allow more borrowing would reflexively do so?
The best after-action report comes from one of the House’s most left-wing members. “This never should have been a hostage-taking situation,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal told ABC News, adding, “This should never happen again.” Indeed.
READ MORE:
Biden’s Border Disorder and Debt Ceiling Mess