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President Joe Biden said that raising the debt limit “is not a negotiable item.”
He is correct. The government is simply paying off expenditures that have already been incurred for programs Congress has previously approved and provided appropriations. Negotiations to cut spending should be done during the budgetary process, not when you pay the debts you already incurred.
Therefore, if members of Congress want to retard spending growth, they should scrutinize omnibus bills that bundle multiple giant spending plans presented during the budgetary process and weed out proposals that they consider wasteful spending.
Actually, the tax cut for big corporations and rich people passed by the Republicans during the Trump administration was mostly responsible for the huge increase in the national debt. So, if Republicans were serious about controlling the national debt, they should repeal the aforementioned tax cut and replace it with higher tax rates for big corporations and rich people.
By playing political brinkmanship, the Republicans are flirting with economic disaster. They need to stop it because it’s dangerous, destructive and plain stupid. Above all, it would hurt the American people.
Rod B. Catiggay
Mililani
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