It looks like Congress has finally made a deal to raise the debt limit. I support the deal, and will strongly encourage my representatives and senators to vote for it. My reasons are below the fold.
I support the deal to raise the debt limit for several reasons:
1. It's a deal. I'm glad to hear that Congress has made a deal and that the Tea Party has not succeeded in destroying the world's economy. The most extreme members of the Tea Party didn't want any deal at all; they wanted the government to either default on its debts or stop paying Social Security recipients. Thank goodness Congress will prevent that terrible outcome. Without a deal to raise the debt limit, our credit rating would have gone down and interest rates would have increased. Increased interest rates would have cost America at least 600,000 jobs. This deal prevents such severe job loss.
2. No cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid beneficiaries. I'm pleasantly surprised that the deal to raise the debt limit avoided any cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid beneficiaries. Democrats should be commended for protecting our social safety net.
3. Big defense cuts. There are immediate cuts to defense spending in the debt limit deal. Defense spending has surged in recent years, and the deal includes significant defense cuts immediately, as well as further cuts if congressional negotiators can't come to a further debt reduction deal. It is very difficult to cut defense spending. Not all spending is good spending, and defense spending provides little economic growth. Therefore, cutting defense spending will have little effect on our economy. I used to work in the Pentagon as a civilian, helping the Navy manage its budget. A lot of our defense spending is just pork barrel spending for Republicans and conservative Democrats. It's only slightly more productive than asking people to dig holes and fill them back up again. Cutting defense spending, even in the middle of a deep recession, is a long-term aid to our economy.
4. Possible big cuts to Medicare providers. The deal to raise the debt limit includes significant cuts to Medicare providers if Congressional negotiators can't agree on other cuts. As a nation, our health care spending is very inefficient and wasteful. We won't be able to extend our safety net if we can't limit health care spending. Therefore, I support cuts to Medicare providers.
We need a large jobs program to avoid economic stagnation, but we won't get a jobs program from the right-wing nutcases in the current House of Representatives. If we want more jobs and a stronger safety net, we need to reelect President Obama and elect strong Democratic majorities to both houses of Congress.