No Debt Ceiling Increase Without Spending Cuts

Since 1985, Congress has voted 27 times to increase the debt limit -- often with little fanfare. The debt ceiling has already been raised three times and by almost $3 trillion just since President Obama took office. Debt limit increases have become so routine in recent years that the Obama administration, along with more than 100 House Democrats, thought it was realistic to call for a debt limit vote with no spending cuts attached. But the days of "clean" debt limit increases are over, as House Republicans demonstrated by allowing a vote on the Democratic proposal and defeating it 318 to 97.

Congressional conservatives have made it clear that we will not vote for a debt limit increase unless it is accompanied by significant and lasting spending reforms. This conviction puts us firmly on the side of the American people, only 11 percent of whom support a debt ceiling increase not accompanied by spending cuts. Our position is also supported by leading economists, more than 150 of whom released a letter urging support for Speaker Boehner's call to match any debt limit increase with spending cuts of an equal amount.

The 150 economists state, "An increase in the national debt limit that is not accompanied by significant spending cuts and budget reforms to address our government's spending addiction will harm private-sector job creation in America." With a sobering new jobs report indicating that the unemployment rate climbed to 9.1 percent in May, job creation remains an urgent necessity. The economy added just 54,000 jobs in May -- far fewer than the 186,000 expected. The unemployment rate has remained above 8 percent for 28 straight months now, yet the president still does not seem to understand that spending cuts are vital to getting the economy moving again.

There is no such confusion in the markets and among credit-ratings agencies, however. The Dow Jones industrial average took a plunge upon the unemployment news, marking its fifth straight week of losses and its longest losing streak since July 2004. Moody's Investor Service became the latest ratings agency to threaten to downgrade the U.S. credit rating if Washington does not make significant progress in budget negotiations by July. The announcement follows the declaration earlier this year from Standard & Poor's, which lowered its assessment of U.S. Treasury securities from “stable” to “negative.”

The proverbial writing is on the wall. If Congress does not get the national debt under control soon, the unemployment rate will remain high, and we will lose our status as the world's most reliable and stable country for investment. Borrowing costs will skyrocket, and the price of imports will jump. We've already seen gas prices increase by 113 percent since President Obama took office. The pain we're experiencing from high fuel prices is just a preview of the difficulties coming our way if we don't rein in the debt. The only viable course for overcoming the debt crisis is enacting steep spending cuts right away.