U.S. approaches urgent debt limit deadline

Uncle Sam should have capped our national debt limit and stuck to it years ago. Instead, he has continued to saddle future generations with the crushing and almost certainly unbearable burden of paying this generation’s hefty expenses.

America’s debt ceiling, the maximum amount of money the federal government is allowed to borrow, is basically just another cause for wasting time and squabbling on Capitol Hill. In the end, it is always raised anyways. Recklessly, our elected officials keep spending, heedless of their “restricted” budget, driving D.C. into a self-induced crisis and leaving themselves with “no choice” but to lift the ceiling whenever they hit their limit. At this point, the cycle is inevitable and predictable. Our debt ceiling has never been reduced.

The concept—although, perhaps, useful if actually adhered to—has become nothing more than an embarrassing joke and reminder that the federal government is grossly irresponsible.

Between 1962 and 2011, the federal debt limit was raised 74 times. During the Obama presidency alone, the debt limit increased by a whopping $6.8 trillion. For reference, under Bill Clinton, our debt ceiling peaked at $6 trillion (1997). Today, it stands at $31.4 trillion, and apparently, not even that is enough. In other words, the federal government may have a debt ceiling as a veneer of fiscal responsibility, but considering how habitually the limit has been raised, it means next to nothing.

Once again, Congress is embroiled in an intense debt limit battle as the U.S. staggers dangerously close to defaulting on some of its debt. And guess what? After vowing not to, House Republicans, led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy, voted to raise the limit. However, as the New York Times reported, “Democrats will never accept the House bill. Instead, they are insisting on a debt limit measure without conditions [the Republican-passed bill contained “spending reductions and policy reversals”]. Republicans… will never support that or anything less than what they just endorsed.”

The two parties have come to a standoff that will probably drag out until the last possible second, at which point, both will agree to yet another debt ceiling increase. Then, of course, Congress will keep pace with its prodigious spending habits, knowing that next time around, when the federal government hits its borrowing max, it will simply raise that number again.

The real victims of this sorry state of affairs are future generations. By perpetually kicking the can down the road, we condemn our children and grandchildren to pay off our incomprehensibly huge debt. It’s immoral.

Although Republicans, in particular, make sweeping promises to be fiscally responsible, we know that neither party can fix this problem. In truth, neither party even seems interested. Overspending has become the norm in Washington, and if we want to fix it, we cannot rely on any inside force.

The only way to rein in D.C.'s out-of-hand spending is with an Article V convention by which the states can impose power-limiting restrictions on the federal government, including fiscal restraints.

For those of us concerned about the debt we are leaving for our children, Convention of States is the solution as big as the problem. To show your support, sign the Convention of States petition below.