July 23, 2019

The hazard for Democrats in the latest budget bill

Common DreamsHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi may have helped temporarily avert a looming fiscal crisis on Monday by striking a budget deal with the Trump administration, but progressives warned the agreement hands Republicans power to kneecap the next president's agenda by suspending the debt ceiling until after the 2020 elections.

"You can almost hear Ted Cruz yelling on the floor of the Senate that Congress shouldn't raise the debt limit by one more dollar unless President Bernie Sanders promises to drop his demand for Medicare for All." 
—Paul Blest, Splinter

The debt ceiling is the legislative limit on how much the federal government can borrow. If the ceiling is not raised, the U.S. would risk defaulting on its debts and potentially sparking a global financial crisis.

Former congressional staffers and other critics said that by agreeing to suspend the debt ceiling until 2021, Pelosi gave Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) the ability to extract massive spending cuts and other concessions from a Democratic president in exchange for raising the debt limit.

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