Trump calls for abolishing the debt ceiling

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: NBC News

EXCLUSIVE
Debt ceiling crisis
Trump calls for abolishing the debt ceiling
In a phone interview with NBC News, Trump said getting rid of the debt ceiling entirely would be the “smartest thing it [Congress] could do. I would support that entirely.”

Dec. 19, 2024, 9:12 AM EST / Updated Dec. 19, 2024, 10:22 AM EST
By Garrett Haake, Rebecca Shabad and Sahil Kapur

President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday that Congress should get rid of the debt ceiling, a day after he came out against a deal reached by congressional lawmakers to fund the government before a shutdown occurs.

In a phone interview with NBC News, Trump said getting rid of the debt ceiling entirely would be the “smartest thing it [Congress] could do. I would support that entirely.”

{snip}

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-calls-abolishing-debt-ceiling-rcna184820

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Trump stuns Washington with push to repeal debt ceiling
With time running out to avert a government shutdown, the president-elect demanded that lawmakers lift the borrowing limit as well.

December 19, 2024 at 11:29 a.m. EST Today at 11:29 a.m. EST


President-elect Donald Trump sits in the Oval Office during a meeting with President Joe Biden on Nov. 13. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

By Jeff Stein

President-elect Donald Trump has stunned lawmakers in Washington by calling for the suspension — or outright elimination — of the federal borrowing limit, introducing an explosive new demand into last-minute negotiations over averting a government shutdown this weekend.

In social media posts and interviews on Wednesday and Thursday, Trump called on congressional Republicans to lift the debt ceiling, a law that limits how much money the federal government can borrow.

{snip}

By Jeff Stein
Jeff Stein is the White House economics reporter for The Washington Post. He was a crime reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard and, in 2014, founded the local news nonprofit the Ithaca Voice in Upstate New York. He was also a reporter for Vox.follow on X@jstein_wapo

[republianmushroom]

1. ... Trump said getting rid of the debt ceiling entirely would be the "smartest thing it [Congress] could do.

NO, the smartest thing congress could have done was impeaching you.

46 months and counting

Smith's report count down 32 days left.

[Johonny]

2. Ghee I wonder if Trump is going to run up

The deficit and cause massive inflation . . .

If only we had a first term to reflect on, if only.

[yaesu]

17. its called The Two Santas Strategy:

https://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/thom-hartmann/two-santas-strategy-gop-used-economic-scam-manipulate-americans-40-years/

First, the Two Santas strategy dictates, when Republicans control the White House they must spend money like a drunken Santa and cut taxes to run up the U.S. debt as far and as fast as possible.

This produces three results: it stimulates the economy thus making people think that the GOP can produce a good economy; it raises the debt dramatically; and it makes people think that Republicans are the “tax-cut Santa Clauses.”

Second, when a Democrat is in the White House, Republicans must scream about the national debt as loudly and frantically as possible, freaking out about how “our children will have to pay for it!” and “we have to cut spending to solve the crisis!” Shut down the government, crash the stock market, and damage US credibility around the world if necessary to stop Democrats from spending money.

This will force the Democrats in power to cut their own social safety net programs and even Social Security, thus shooting their welfare-of-the-American-people Santa Claus right in the face.

[Lovie777]

3. So that the billionaires can steal more money....,,

and crash the economy.

[Bengus81]

4. Really Trump?? Did you clear this with incoming President Musk?

Asking for a friend.....

[gab13by13]

5. I agree,

There is no logical reason to have a debt ceiling.

Call it the Donald Trump Debt ceiling Removal Bill if that will get it passed.

[WestMichRad]

6. Remember when Republicans were all up in arms to reduce deficit spending?

Yeah, I know… that’s only when there’s a Dem in the oval office.

Asshats.

[Bengus81]

9. Remember when Republicans would destroy you for associating with a commie?

[cstanleytech]

7. Abolish the sweetheart taxes breaks on the wealthy instead until we see the number of middle class triple?

After all the tax breaks they get have done nothing to increase the number of people that earn a middle class income has actually decreased over the past few decades.
So clearly the job creators are not actually creating jobs in the United States rather they're creating jobs overseas.

[bucolic_frolic]

8. If there's no debt ceiling, why do we need DOGE to rein in the debt?

[boonecreek]

12. We don't,

but these clowns don't understand the concept "logical fallacy".

[Silent Type]

10. I think Democrats have called for this for years. In fact, Sen Warren is "supporting" trump today.

"Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Thursday supported President-elect Trump’s pressure on lawmakers to eliminate the debt ceiling.

"“I agree with President-elect Trump that Congress should terminate the debt limit and never again govern by hostage taking,” Warren said in a post on social platform X."

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5048698-warren-trump-debt-celing/

[Galraedia]

16. Trump only wants to eliminate it so he can blame democrats and give tax cuts to the rich when he takes office

He spent twice as much as Joe Biden during his last term in office. Imagine how much debt he'll add without a debt ceiling.

[FloridaBlues]

11. They should do it under trumps watch.

[patphil]

13. Add that to the list of stuff Trump wants to do "on day one".

If it's such a great idea, why not take all the credit for it?

[Galraedia]

14. He wants democrats and Joe Biden to increase it so he can give more tax cuts to the rich when he takes office.

[CousinIT]

15. That is a prerequisite to emptying the treasury into billionaires' pockets.

THIS IS A ROBBERY.

Muskrat has a gun to our government and America's collective heads, demanding that we empty the safe (treasury) into his and his billionaire friends' pockets, or he'll blow up our government and our lives.

[Turbineguy]

18. Yeah, right now it's a "Steal Ceiling"

And cramps his style.

[vapor2]

19. Raising the debt ceiling so the billionaires can have their petty tax cuts

America now owned and run by musk. SAD, DISTURBING, DESPICABLE, LUDICROUS ETC

[Gore1FL]

20. Broken clock is right.

The debt ceiling is both stupid and unconstitutional.

[MichMan]

21. Lots of support for it last year including Laurence Tribe

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016351127

[Silent Type]

23. The shift is interesting. Even Sen Warren agrees with trump on this one.

[IronLionZion]

22. Yeah, to pay for unnecessary tax cuts

[LetMyPeopleVote]

24. Why Trump is suddenly fixated on getting rid of the debt ceiling

Maybe Donald Trump is suddenly demanding unnecessary debt ceiling reforms because he's afraid Democrats will act like him?
https://bsky.app/profile/charley2024.bsky.social/post/3ldoutpbro224

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-suddenly-fixated-getting-rid-debt-ceiling-rcna184886

It was against this backdrop that Donald Trump waited until a bipartisan agreement was complete — and until a shutdown deadline was just two days away — at which point he decided to make a new, odd, and wildly unnecessary demand, confusing a whole lot of officials in both parties in the process. Politico reported:

Donald Trump and JD Vance injected themselves further into an escalating fight over federal spending, demanding that House Republicans scrap a plan that would avert a government shutdown within days. Trump and Vance issued a statement Wednesday insisting that Congress raise the nation’s debt ceiling and cut a range of spending proposals instead of passing the package that Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans had negotiated with their Democratic counterparts.

The fact that the president-elect jumped in at the last minute to take a sledgehammer to a bipartisan agreement is itself a dramatic problem. But Trump’s decision to also add a debt ceiling increase to the multifaceted mess wasn’t just problematic, it was also bizarre. NBC News’ Sahil Kapur went so far as to characterize it as “mind-boggling“ to see the Republican push a provocative demand that’s wholly unrelated to the ongoing debate.

Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York found it so odd that he told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell that Trump’s demand “makes absolutely no sense.” The congressman added, in reference to the president-elect, “I’m concerned about his mental capacity.”.....

But stepping back, there’s no great mystery as to why Trump has stumbled into this. The New York Times reported:

As he prepares to push an agenda of tax cuts and border security, Mr. Trump fears that a debt limit fight next year could interfere. His plans are expected to cost trillions of dollars, much of which will most likely need to come from borrowed funds. A drawn-out debt limit fight next year could force Mr. Trump and Republicans to bow to the demands of Democrats and could consume the congressional calendar.

I think that’s right, though I’d add a related point: Trump is likely terrified of the idea that Democrats might act like him.

Let’s not forget that during his first term, the then-president condemned the idea of using the nation’s debt limit as part of a partisan hostage strategy that threatened the nation. In 2019, for example, Trump declared, “I can’t imagine anybody using the debt ceiling as a negotiating wedge.” In Oval Office comments, he went on to describe the policy as a “sacred thing in our country.”....

Evidently, the president-elect would be delighted if Democrats were to simply take such a possibility off the table now, before he’s even inaugurated.

[Hotler]

25. Merick Garland .....

[surfered]

26. Actually, the debt ceiling requirement is redundant and nonsensical.

Every dollar the government spends is by law. When Congress passes a spending bill which exceeds expected revenue, it knows it will have to borrow to cover the shortfall.

Raising the debt limit is an attempt to close the door after the horse has left the barn.

[C_U_L8R]

27. And that's how Trump went bankrupt so many times.

[Wiz Imp]

28. He's actually right on this issue (but not for the right reason).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_debt_ceiling

There is a debate among legal scholars regarding the constitutionality of the debt ceiling. Some scholars argue that the debt ceiling does not provide the legal authority for the United States to default on its debt. Some also argue that the debt ceiling itself is unconstitutional since it does not provide a clear mechanism for the government to meet its constitutional obligation to repay its debts once it meets the borrowing limit.

The apparent redundancy of the debt ceiling has led to suggestions that it should be abolished altogether. Several Democratic House members, including Peter Welch, proposed abolishing the debt ceiling. The proposal found support from some economists such as Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

In January 2013, a survey of 38 highly regarded economists found that 84 percent agreed that, since Congress already approves spending and taxation, "a separate debt ceiling that has to be increased periodically creates unneeded uncertainty and can potentially lead to worse fiscal outcomes." Only one member of the panel, Luigi Zingales, disagreed with the statement. Rating agency Moody's has stated that "the debt limit creates a high level of uncertainty" and that the government should change "its framework for managing government debt to lessen or eliminate that uncertainty".

Proponents of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), a heterodox, post-Keynesian economic theory which arose in the late 20th century, have critiqued the concept of the debt ceiling and its theoretical and practical uses. A core tenet of MMT is that currency arose from and is wholly controlled as fiat money by governments, the latter claim is dependent on the government as the sovereign issuer of the given currency. As of 2019, MMT theorists believed that governments have the power to create and spend money within a limit of reason without creating hyperinflation, as well as the ability to forgive its debt or repay itself; in contrast, as of 2020, orthodox economic theorists tended to focus on national deficit as a debt that needs to be repaid eventually. As a result, MMT theorists argue the debt ceiling is largely a symbolic limit on government spending; in 2020 Stephanie Kelton, a prominent supporter of MMT, wrote that "there are no constraints on the federal budget."

After the turn of the 20th century, and particularly during and since the Great Recession (2007-2009) political landscape, MMT has been the subject of political debate between post-Keynesian, mainstream, and free-market economic theorists and politicians alike. As of 2019, MMT debates on the debt ceiling have pervaded Congress, with progressive representatives, prominently Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, boosting the theory to the mainstream, while conservative representatives have been critiquing MMT's potential impacts on government spending and inflation.

Early in 2023, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was supportive of legislation to abolish the debt limit, while President Biden was not; however, by June he had signed into law the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 suspending the debt ceiling.

Of course Trump wants it raised or eliminated now so he can say debt was allowed to explode by Democrats. But that is what he wants to do - explode the debt further through tax cuts for billionaires. Despite Trump's nefarious intentions, the debt ceiling should never have existed and is possibly even unconstitutional so getting rid of it would be a good thing. It will no longer hamper future Democratic administrations like it did Obama & Biden.

[raccoon]

29. Always the attention whore. This really shouldn't be in the news. TSF not in office, he's just a convicted felon

who a bunch of idiots elected.