By Elizabeth Michaud and PW Editors
The House of Representatives approved an increase in the debt ceiling this week without attaching conditions to the measure. The same measure was also approved by the Senate this week, with enough Republicans breaking ranks to get the measure past the supermajority of 60 votes. Given the contention that has plagued government, and nothing being too small to create a power struggle over, this seems to be a miracle, and possibly represents a turn in the hyperpartisan tide that has made governing the United States nearly impossible for the past five years.
The smooth sailing for this routine measure was seen as a blow to the Tea Party, the faux political party that has done little other than obstruct what little civility remained in Washington, DC. How long it lasts, we shall see.
The debt ceiling is the borrowing limit the U.S. government imposes on itself. Dating back to 1917, the debt ceiling has been raised many times in recent history, as the U.S. sinks further into the hole. The debt ceiling is not about incurring new expenses. Rather, it’s about the government’s ability to borrow money to pay bills that it’s already run up.
Various political factions in Congress have used raising the debt ceiling to leverage concessions by the other party, most recently in 2011 and 2013. This is hypocritical since it was Congress that spent the money in the first place.
The first sign of a progress this week was when House Majority Leader John Boehner went against his own caucus (held like a hostage until now by the Tea Party faction), and abandoned his own rule that any debt limit increase be tied to equal spending cuts.