irst, we need to STOP talking about the federal debt & deficit like it is your household checkbook and budget- it is not.
Not all debt is equal or bad. Debt and deficits have increased under every GOP president from Reagan to GWBush to Trump!
The debt also increased under Obama and Biden but for very different reasons.
One could argue Reagan deficits (mostly on military spending) broke the USSR and ended the cold war. It may be a stretch but I can see the plausibility and thus those deficits might be considered acceptable due to the outcome. And that is the point- debt and deficits are not the only metric in the pure numbers- but what is the OUTCOME? The outcome itself is a metric.
GWB (before the Iraq war) and Trump blew up the debt and deficits with tax breaks that largely benefitted the wealthy and corporations- this data and the numbers don't lie and are readily available to anyone who looks at THIS outcome unbiased.
Debt under Obama was due to having to recover from the financial crisis. That financial crisis was the result of neo-liberal deregulation under GOP policies (admittedly aided by Bill Clinton whon needs a kick in the posterior). Some of the Obama debt resulted in saving the auto industry and some other real long lasting infrastructure programs- good outcomes.
Debt under Biden again recovering from a crisis (covid) also resulted in numerous good outcomes- CHIPs Act, Infrastructure bill. These long term projects added jobs, improved infrastructure (roads, electric grid, etc).
The GOP always wants to "cut the debt" when they are not in charge and when they are they increase it with progams that have no solid outcomes for most of the American public.
The GOP also uses the debt as an argument for cutting programs that actually benefit Americans- The GOP policy is to take us back to 1880 where no social programs exist that help people.
The Democrats, generally, want govt to work FOR the people. While it may take some debt, again that is not the only metric- other outcomes should also be considered!
Second, The debt ceiling is a stupid law and should be eliminated. It is arguably also unconstitutional. The Congress passes bills authorizing spending and the govt needs to pay the debts incurred to those whom it contracted. The debt ceiling -if not raised- means the USA will fail to pay for things ALREADY purchased- in that sense it would be like defaulting on a credit card.
The debt ceiling arose out of the need to fund WW1 so the govt could issue bonds. It was never meant to constrain the treasury from paying the bills Congress incurs.
