How the Budget Ceiling is SUPPOSED to work, and why it doesn’t.

Here is how the process actually works:
Step One: Congress decides how much money to spend and passes bills so the rest of the government can spend it.
Step Two: since Congress rarely considers whether or not we can afford all of the spending they authorize, there is usually a budget deficit, which increases the national debt.
Step Three: the Congress allows the treasury to borrow more money to cover the spending that Congress ordered. That is called “raising the debt ceiling”.

Pretty simple, and you may have noticed something: the word “President” appeared nowhere in the process. That is because the Executive cannot and does not allocate the vast majority of Federal funding. The Prexy has damn-all to do with the funding levels established by Congress. All he can do is execute the funding (which is why it is called the “Executive Branch”).

So why does Congress ask the Prexy for “concessions” or “reforms”, whenever the debt ceiling need lifting? The answer, Gentle Reader, is this: Congress is too scared to admit that they are responsible for our massive budget and the resulting red ink, so they play “pin the blame on Obama”. If the taxpaying public knew that Congress was to blame, they might vote their legislators out of office.

And the one thing no Senator or Congresscritter can bear is the idea of having to actually work for a living. So they pretend that it is the eeeeevil Obaminator who is responsible for the deficit. And the “News” media plays chorus to the Teapublican lies.

Remember this when you next cast your ballot. Congress owns the budget, the deficit and the debt. It’s time for those lazy, cowardly millionaires on Capitol Hill to nut up and accept responsibility for their actions, and to stop lying to us about who is to blame for the consequences of said actions.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Congressional Spending is why the Debt Ceiling has to be raised. No other reason.

The “Republicans” who control the House of “Representatives” are once again threatening to refuse to raise the debt ceiling unless their whiny, silly, pouting, and just generally idiotic demands du jour are met. In this case, it’s a demand that ObamaCare be destroyed. A  ridiculous demand, of course, but that’s not how deep the rabbit hole of stupid goes.

Here’s the deal: Congress spends money. They are responsible for the amount of taxing and spending.  That means they are responsible for the amount of the national debt. That means they are responsible for the need to raise the debt ceiling.

“But ObamaCare”, the Wingnuts cry. News flash: Congress voted for it. That means they’re responsible for the funding that they voted for. Not the Prexy, not the courts: that’s what’s called the Separation of Powers. Congress holds the power of the purse, and for years they have been using that power in a most irresponsible manner.

Yes, the debt is too high. But that is no reason for Congress to try to weasel out of paying the bills they have run up over the decades. No, that is a reason to adjust tax and spending policy to bring the national debt down in the future,

The law of the land says the U.S. Government has to pay its bills. If Congress refuses to do so, they will be in violation of the law.  And only Congress will be responsible. No one else. It’s their fault for spending more than they take in.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Congress Spends Money. The Deficit Belongs to Them.

A rare Blunt and Cranky shout-out to President Obama for reminding Congress of its Constitutional responsibilities. His words:

“I will not have another debate with this Congress on whether or not they should pay the bills for laws they have already racked up.”

Maybe this former legal scholar will remember these words later on. We most certainly should. It has become fashionable of late to blame the Prexy for everything that is wrong with America, but the truth is: he has very little power over our fiscal situation.

Let’s focus on the Congress when it comes to taxing and spending. The only people who benefit from blaming the Executive for our crap balance sheet are the legislators who bear the actual responsibility.

Mr. B & C