OPINION:
The periodic kabuki dance about raising the federal debt limit is always accompanied by histrionics and catastrophic predictions of a federal government default and shutdown. But the truth of the matter is that if the Congress and the president do not raise the debt limit, the federal government will still have money — just not enough for every conceivable thing.
It will then have to spend only what it takes in and be forced to prioritize spending. This is exactly what average Americans do when balancing their personal budgets: Make the hard choices between essentials and desires. And this is what taxpayers pay their legislators to do.
The only “defaults” are those choices and items that are unaffordable. Former House Speaker John Boehner explained: “Washington does not have a revenue problem. Washington has a spending problem.”
Current House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has proposed a bill to initiate some fiscally responsible congressional behavior that will (hopefully) lead to a balanced federal budget.
So let’s all calm down and realize that, in the absence of a debt-limit increase, the federal government will simply face the “crisis” of a balanced budget.
PAUL J. McILVAINE
Alexandria, Virginia
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