Are Republicans Willing to Raise the Debt Ceiling?

NYT OPINION: Are Republicans Willing to Raise the Debt Ceiling?
By The Editorial Board
Section: Opinion
Source: New York Times
Published Date: May 8, 2023 at 03:00AM

President Biden is offering a reasonable path to resolve the latest debt ceiling standoff. Are Republicans willing to take it?

President Biden is offering congressional Republicans a reasonable path to resolve the standoff over raising the federal debt ceiling. He has rightly insisted the ceiling itself must be raised without conditions, so the government can meet the obligations it already has incurred, while expressing a willingness to separately negotiate measures to slow the growth of the federal debt. As Mr. Biden and congressional leaders prepare to meet on Tuesday, the question is whether Republicans are serious about avoiding a crisis. The party’s leaders so far have offered up only a mix of outlandish demands and reckless threats. A bill to raise the debt ceiling that House Republicans passed last month, which House Speaker Kevin McCarthy describes as the party’s negotiating position, is more in the nature of a demand for unconditional surrender. It would require Democrats to accept a long wish list of Republican priorities, including deep cuts in federal spending, and to accept the reversal of recent victories, including investments in tax enforcement and green energy. All for less than a year of peace before the government would hit the debt ceiling again. There is not much time for an agreement to be hammered out: The federal government may not have enough money to meet all of its obligations as soon as the beginning of June.

Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/08/opinion/biden-republicans-debt-ceiling.html