Christopher Jacobs of the Federalist pushes back against over-the-top criticism of Republican plans for addressing the federal debt ceiling.
The old lawyers’ adage instructs that “if you have the facts on your side, pound the facts; if you have the law on your side, pound the law; if you have neither the facts nor the law, pound the table.” The adage aptly describes how President Joe Biden — an old lawyer if ever there was one — responded to House Republicans’ debt limit bill last week when he called it full of “wacko notions.”
What to Biden and the radical left seems “wacko” sounds to much of America like simple common sense. The House Republicans’ debt limit bill wouldn’t balance the budget, but it would make a good start on fixing the fiscal train wreck that big spending by both parties in recent years has left the next generation.
It’s worth examining the major components of the legislation, to see exactly what the left might object to.
Lowering Spending: The bill would lower spending on the federal discretionary budget — that’s the part of the budget that covers things like the military and most domestic programs, but not Medicare or Social Security — all the way back to the levels of… the fiscal year that ended last Sept. 30. Remember: This “reduction” in spending, which seems so slight to even call it that, comes after lawmakers ran up $4.8 trillion in new debt over the past two years alone.
Slowing the Rate of Growth: The bill would allow discretionary spending to grow at 1 percent for the coming decade. (Again, this provision would not apply to Medicare or Social Security.) If ever there were a way for leftist politicians to get serious about fighting inflation, capping the growth of the federal government might be the perfect way to do so.
