Is it too early to proclaim that the politicians in charge of setting federal budget policy have come to their senses?
Man, I hope it’s true what I believe I heard President Biden say about talks to lift the debt ceiling.
The president said the men with whom he has been negotiating — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer — all agree on one thing.
The United States cannot, and will not, default on the debt it owes. There you have it. Republicans and Democrats can agree on something!
That’s what Biden said. I believe he spoke in good faith.
Therefore, I will take that as a commitment to reaching a compromise in this battle that shouldn’t even be occurring.
I won’t bother to heap praise on whoever deserves credit for a potential compromise. However, I need to point out that Joe Biden spent 36 years in the Senate and eight years as vice president working both sides of the aisle in search of common ground on all manner of issues and policies.
He knows how to navigate his way.
The debt ceiling cannot go unattended. Doing so would mean we default on our obligations — in direct violation of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. Moreover, default spells economic catastrophe.
If I were an elected politician, I would truly hate for such a cataclysm to occur on my watch … you know?
Thus, we well might be closer to a deal that Republicans are suggesting, with their yammering about Joe Biden heading off to an overseas conference. Hey, he’s coming back sooner than planned to work things out.