Washington, D.C. - September 11, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- Congressman Brendan F. Boyle (PA-13) has introduced legislation, H.R. 3693, to abolish the United States debt ceiling. The debt ceiling is a statutory limit on the amount of national debt that may be issued by the U.S. Treasury after it has spent and incurred that debt. It ultimately limits how much money the federal government can borrow to pay its own bills.
“The debt ceiling, and the constant crisis it creates through repeated threats of government shutdown, is unnecessary and problematic to say the least. It’s no wonder that only a handful of countries around the world currently follow this disruptive, arbitrary and restrictive fiscal practice,” said Congressman Boyle.
“When you receive your credit card statement at the end of the month, you can’t decide ‘I’ll pay this, but won’t pay that.’ Our current process of ‘governing by deadline’ and playing chicken with the debt ceiling is essentially doing just that – and risking the full faith and credit of the United States,” continued Boyle. “This is reckless and irresponsible.”
Congressman Boyle’s bill would repeal the statutory debt limit that sets a legal limit to how much the Treasury can borrow.
Secretary of the Treasury Mnuchin has repeatedly emphasized to Congress that it’s critical to raise the debt ceiling by September 29. He has employed “extraordinary measures” since March to conserve money to pay our bills. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the government may miss certain payments in October if the Treasury Department is no longer able to pay the government’s bills. This would threaten payments on programs like Social Security and Medicare. An agreement struck between President Trump and Congressional Democrats just before midnight last night would end the threat of a government shutdown and a default on the national debt at the end of September, but only for three months. Congress will face a Dec. 8 deadline to strike another deal to avert those fiscal cliffs.
