Washington: The US national debt exploded to $33 trillion in September, with the budget deficit doubling to $2 billion. And the debt is rising at a faster clip even as the House struggled with the speakership and the bickering over spending cuts between Democrats and Republicans continued unabated.
The national debt surpassed $33 trillion in September, and it’s rising at an ever faster clip. In the last fiscal year, the deficit doubled to about $2 trillion, USA TODAY reported.
“We’re in trouble, despite what the President keeps touting about ‘Bidenomics’,” financial writer Ingrid Jacques wrote in USA TODAY.
Biden is trying to sell ‘Bidenomics’, but Americans can’t afford the President’s agenda, she said, adding that leading financial institutions have noticed the same too.
Last weekend, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded its US credit rating outlook to “negative” from “stable”, given the high deficits and the increased costs of managing the debt, media reports said.
This follows an actual credit rating downgrade from Fitch Ratings earlier this year.
The GOP needs to think big or go home. The budget bickering is nothing new and the Congress has been dysfunctional for decades, said Maya MacGuineas, President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
“Neither party wants to take responsibility for our unsustainable debt – or make the tough decisions necessary to make things better – so they keep piling on the bad decisions,” she said.
“The budget process is absolutely broken,” MacGuineas said.
Rather than wasting time with infighting, Republicans should make clear the dangers of the skyrocketing debt, she said.
Primarily, the President and the Congress should help the formation of a bipartisan fiscal commission, which as per experts and legislators is the best solution for making a dent in spending. The idea is that it would take extreme partisanship out of making necessary budget cuts and offer political cover for lawmakers to sign on.
Senators Mitt Romney and Senator Joe Manchin introduced the Fiscal Stability Act, which would create the fiscal commission. (Neither Romney nor Manchin is seeking re-election, and they might be eyeing a third-party presidential run)
If Republicans are serious about reining in the debt, what they should focus on is winning more seats in Congress – and winning back the White House, the commentator said.
The GOP is playing to lose
2024 should be a cakewalk for Republicans, but they’re determined to give failing Dems a win, the financial writer wrote.
It’s the best Speaker Johnson could do, under the circumstances as the GOP is a divided house and consider the fact he’s working with a Democratic-controlled Senate and White House.
His “laddered” approach extends the funding deadlines to two different dates – one in January and one in February. It keeps funding at current levels (which should make Democrats happy) and averts the threat of a government shutdown ahead of the holidays. But those deadlines will come quickly after the first of the year. Then what?
Republicans – and Democrats – must wake up to reality. Many Republicans had demanded that additional spending cuts be tied to these annual spending bills.
–IANS
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