May 02, 2023

A Nation in Crisis: Democrat Spending Accelerates Debt Ceiling Deadline

Congress’ nonpartisan analyst, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), released a report warning the Biden Administration and lawmakers on Capitol Hill of an expedited debt ceiling timeline.

Statement from Chairman Arrington

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) issued the following statement regarding the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) report:

“After two years of reckless spending and failed economic policies that led to 40-year high inflation, soaring interest rates, and an anemic and shrinking economy, it’s no wonder tax revenue is down and the default date may be moved up.

"House Republicans are the only ones who have put forth a detailed plan to fix the spending problem and protect the full faith and credit of the United States. Biden and the Democrats need to stop making up excuses to continue their spending spree and act responsibly by including fiscal reforms in a debt ceiling bill.

"The Democrat narrative is misleading and preys on the fears of veterans and vulnerable people while conveniently failing to address the billions of wasteful Washington spending.”

A Deeper Dive on the Debt Ceiling

The Timeline and Methodology Behind the Debt Ceiling

  • At the beginning of the 118th Congress, Secretary Yellen sent a letter to Speaker McCarthy notifying lawmakers that the U.S. would reach the projected statutory limit for spending by January 19, 2023.
  • The Treasury would thus utilize “extraordinary measures” to satisfy our nation’s contractual financial obligations while negotiations occurred between the legislative and executive branches. Secretary Yellen estimated that extraordinary measures would be exhausted by June 5, 2023.
  • CBO explains that the sum and timing of governmental cash flows, as well as transactions between the Treasury and other parts of the government, will determine when extraordinary measures would be exhausted. The following are typical payment amounts and dates for large government expenditures:
    • Social Security benefits are disbursed four times a month, on the third day of the month and on three Wednesdays each month (roughly $25 billion per week, totaling about $100 billion each month).
    • Payments to Medicare Advantage heath care plans and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans (about $40 billion in total) are made on the first day of the month.
    • A large share of the pay or benefits for active-duty members of the military, civil service and military retirees, veterans, and recipients of Supplementary Security Income (about $25 billion) is disbursed on the first day of the month.
    • Interest payments (amounts vary) are made around the 15th and on the last day of each month.
  • On May 1, 2023, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report explaining that total federal tax receipts processed in April were less than anticipated, accelerating Treasury’s depletion of extraordinary measures, resulting in the U.S. now facing the potential for default as early as June 1, 2023.
Democrat Spending Makes the Debt Crisis Worse The U.S. is in the throes of a debt and deficit crisis. Today, the national debt totals more than $31 trillion dollars — that’s nearly $250,000 of debt per taxpayer.

Rather than make the tough financial decisions Americans are forced to make daily, Democrats have spent the past two years on an $11 trillion partisan tax and spending spree which includes:

  • Up to $1.2 trillion on green tax write offs for billion-dollar companies.
  • $709 billion on student loan waivers and giveaways that forces the 87 percent of Americans without student loans to pay for the loans of the 13 percent who do.
  • $80 billion to supercharge the IRS with 87,000 new agents.
Unbridled government spending hurts everyday Americans and has propelled the nation towards our fiscal cliff sooner than expected by fueling inflation and hiking up interest rates.
  • The worst inflationary environment in over 40 years; since President Biden took office in January 2021, prices have increased 14.9 percent.
  • Interest rates rising from effectively zero to nearly 5%.
  • Interest payments on the national debt rising $288 billion or 81 percent, just in the last two years.
Despite the economic realities of superfluous government spending, President Biden’s FY 2024 budget doubles down:
  • Biden’s budget proposes $82 trillion in spending over 10 years and would add $19 trillion in new federal debt.
  • Federal spending would exceed the pre-COVID peacetime record, as a percentage of GDP, in every year of the budget.
Republicans Have a Plan. Democrats Don’t. By passing the H.R.2811, the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 last week, House Republicans have not only done their part to ensure that the Treasury will be able to cover keystone programs like Social Security and Medicare in June, they have put forward sensible and needed spending reductions to prevent future economic crises.

Democrats, on the other hand, have yet to negotiate or present a concrete plan surrounding the debt ceiling, leaving these vital programs, the American economy, and the full faith and credit of the US in limbo.

Instead of promoting hypothetical, fear-based narratives, Democrats must join with Republicans to responsibly raise the debt ceiling.

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