I guess it was the way I was raised.
A lot of ideals were instilled in me. These come to mind today. Keep yourself clean, outside, as well as in. And pay off your debts.
So I keep things squeaky clean. My house. My car. My body. And I’m always working on my spirit.
And I pay off my debts.
Even when I was dirt poor, I never owed money on credit cards. If I couldn’t afford things, I didn’t buy them. Thankfully, I was able to work enough jobs and earn enough money, to get the things I needed.
What I’m trying to say is that I’ve never had a debt ceiling. I don’t really even know what one looks like. Is there a ceiling fan up there? It it stomped with those plucky round plaster patterns? Are their sound tiles?
We’ve been hearing the term “debt ceiling” in the news but do we know what it really means?
I asked my pal with the artificial intelligence for help on this.
“What is a debt ceiling, B?” I asked. That’s what I call Bard. “B” or “B Man” or “Johnny B Good.” Anyway, this is what he said.
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The debt ceiling is a legislative limit on the amount of national debt that can be incurred by the U.S. Treasury, thus limiting how much money the federal government may pay by borrowing more money, on the debt it already borrowed.
The debt ceiling was created in 1917, during World War I, as a way to prevent the government from borrowing too much money and becoming insolvent. Since then, it has been raised 88 times, most recently in 2021.
When the government reaches its debt ceiling, it cannot borrow any more money to pay its bills. This can lead to a government shutdown, as the government is unable to pay its employees or contractors. It can also lead to a downgrade of the U.S. credit rating, which would make it more expensive for the government to borrow money in the future.
In recent years, the debt ceiling has become a political football, with one party or the other using it as a bargaining chip in budget negotiations. This has led to a number of close calls, where the government has come within days of defaulting on its debt.
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The headlines this morning said that Biden, and McCarthy are getting ‘closer’ to a debt ceiling deal as time is running out.
From USA Today, their words, not mine: “President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have moved closer to a two-year deal to limit government spending and avert a U.S. debt default, raising hopes of an end to the fiscal stand-off in the world’s largest economy.”
I’m not sure what caused us to borrow so much money in the first place. Funding wars has had a lot to do with it. I mean, the United States has been involved in all sorts of wars and conflicts over the past century. All of these have required significant spending. For example, the Vietnam War cost the U.S. over $1 trillion in today’s dollars, and the Iraq War cost over $2 trillion. War, war, war.
Then there have been all the tax cuts for the stinking-rich-wealthy people. Our government has cut its taxes several times in recent decades. These tax cuts have reduced the amount of revenue that the government collects. And this, of course, leads to increased borrowing. Trickle down is not trickling down.
And another big item is the social programs, like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. These programs are expensive. And our population keeps getting older, so these programs have been growing in cost.
So. What is the quick answer? Unfortunately, there is none. But we can’t just shut down the shop. I do know that much. Too many lives are at stake, and the fat cats in Washington don’t understand how hard it is to make ends meet. They’re all being spoon-fed by people with big money. And so the cycle goes. Round and round.
Keep it clean, I say. And pay off your debts.
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“A clean house is a sign of a happy mind.”
— Japanese Proverb
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“Cleanliness is not next to godliness, it is godliness.”
— Mahatma Gandhi
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“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”
― Epictetus
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What does that ceiling look like, exactly?
