Today’s national forecast: hot, dry and divided.
As Americans suffer a devastating heat wave, Congress faces its own heat as tempers flare and party crevices grow. The United States now faces approximately $14.5 trillion of debt, a sum that exceeds the debt limit of approximately $14.3 trillion, and so the government must decide whether or not to raise the amount of debt that the U.S. Department of Treasury is allowed to issue (for a rousing game of “how high can you count?", feel free to visit http://www.usdebtclock.org/).
This, however, is a misleading summary of the current state of events.
According to a Civitas poll, only 39 percent of North Carolinians support raising the debt roof with deep cuts in federal spending, and 47 percent oppose it. 16 percent of the polled individuals oppose deep cuts in federal spending. 31 percent polled oppose raising of the debt roof at all, yet this group may not understand the history of U.S. debt management.
Should Congress fail to raise the debt limit, the U.S. government will essentially cease to function. This means that every federal branch and all of its subsidiary departments will theoretically shut down, which would be unprecedented in American history. According to the Treasury’s website, we have raised the debt roof 78 times since 1960 under administrations of both parties.
The treasury has imposed an August 2 deadline to raise the debt ceiling, a time-bomb for President Obama, Congress and the country as a whole. The most pressing question of the hour is not whether or not the ceiling will be raised but how will the U.S. eradicate the massive debt it has accumulated to prevent a future crisis.
Although not the most accurate description, this does express the dire need for Congress to come to a compromise. While the situation can be called a debt crisis, it by no means rivals the Greek debt crisis. Should Congress fail to compromise, federal officials will not pack up their bags and head home, shutting off power on Capitol Hill for good. Rather, the Treasury will have to prioritize items to be paid until a compromise IS reached.
The top of the laundry list is servicing interest payments and refunding maturing bonds, which can be covered by tax revenues. This is just a temporary solution, however, much like band-aiding an amputated limb.
President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner R-OH have had their hands full laying down a bridge between their divided parties. As usual, the discrepancy is deeply involved and esoteric but long story short: Republicans think that Democrats want to impose higher taxes, and Democrats think that Republicans want drastic budget cuts primarily for social programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
Both parties have proposed their own versions of bills incorporating their respective agenda but, as of today, none have gained enough bi-partisan support to pass.
This situation has not boded well for Obama’s national popularity. Civitas took North Carolina’s temperature and found that Obama’s approval rate dropped from 51 percent to 44 percent.
With the 2012 elections approaching, both parties have stakes in the outcome of this predicament.
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