Sen. Lisa Murkowski was quoted in Politico on April 30 stating that, to resolve the looming debt ceiling crisis, President Joe Biden should “take a good look at” what House Speaker Kevin McCarthy can pass and then start haggling. This is extremely bad advice.
House Republicans are “offering” – if their demands are met - to not force the United States to default on the nation’s full faith and credit for the first time in our nation’s history. This would not be a goodfaith negotiation, but rather a reward for hostage-taking. And such hostage-taking would become a regular occurrence, with undoubtedly increasing ransom demands. And then, logically, Democrats could likewise threaten to force a default unless the next Republican president agrees to whatever they want even if it is completely impossible for Democrats toactually legislate such a result (as is the case with the House Republicans’ present demands).
Not raising the technical debt ceiling means that the treasury cannot pay for obligations that Congress has already incurred on behalf of the country. A default on already existing legal obligations would cause massive mindless self-harm to our economy and global financial stability.
Sen. Murkowski and Sen. Dan Sullivan should do the right thing and publicly and emphatically call for an immediate “clean” lifting of the debt ceiling.
— Neil O’Donnell
Anchorage
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