The Problem is the Debt, Not the Ceiling

After a summer of debt discussions, the contrasts between House Republicans and Senate Democrats remain as clear as ever. House Republicans are committed to solving the long-term debt crisis. Senate Democrats just want to raise the debt limit long enough to make it through the next election, and then go back to business as usual. In their case, that means more spending.

House Republicans voted twice in July to cut spending, avoid default and bring a responsible end to the debt ceiling crisis. During that same time period, Senate Democrats passed nothing while President Obama continued to offer obstacles and veto threats but never his own plan.

The House first passed Cut, Cap and Balance -- a serious, comprehensive plan that avoids default in the short term and implements long-term spending controls to ensure we never reach such a crisis again. Senate Democrats rejected the bill. Next, House Republicans passed the Budget Control Act. While this was not a perfect bill, it contained major spending cuts and budgetary reforms that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago when Democrats controlled the House.

Senate Democrats rejected this sensible plan, also, and Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid offered legislation that amounted to a blank check to President Obama. The Reid plan contained so-called spending cuts that are nothing more than smoke and mirrors. More than $1 trillion of the savings in the bill came from war spending for Iraq and Afghanistan that has never been requested in the first place.

The chief goal of the Reid plan seems to have been getting President Obama through the next election -- not cutting spending. Unlike the Boehner plan, Sen. Reid's bill did not require any additional spending reductions. Senate Democrats wanted to raise the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion in one step, thus providing no incentive for implementing lasting budget reforms and real spending cuts. This careless attitude toward the debt is the reason America is heading for bankruptcy.

Despite months of Democratic resistance to reasonable spending cuts, the agreement that ultimately emerged on Sunday is a responsible solution that upholds the principles we have been fighting for. It does not raise taxes, it cuts spending by a greater amount than the debt limit increase, and it advances important budgetary reforms like the Balanced Budget amendment.

Conservatives recognize that the problem is not the debt ceiling -- it's the debt. By insisting that any debt ceiling increase be accompanied by spending cuts, we have permanently ended the days of routine debt ceiling increases, and that alone is a major victory and historic achievement. House Republicans have passed trillions of dollars in spending cuts this year, and we will continue to work to restore fiscal discipline and change the culture in Washington. We have a long way to go to restore our country's financial health and get the economy growing again, but we are finally headed in the right direction.