We have a debt ceiling deal.
And the deal is there is functionally no debt ceiling until January 2025.
When this drama all started back in January, I called it “a fake debt ceiling fight.”
Well, the fake debt ceiling fight got us some fake spending cuts!
In effect, the US government can borrow an unlimited amount of money until after the next presidential election.
The plan also includes “spending cuts.” Here’s how the New York Times explained it.
It would cut federal spending by $1.5 trillion over a decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office, by effectively freezing some funding that had been projected to increase next year and then limiting spending to 1 percent growth in 2025, which is considered a cut because it would be at a lower level than inflation.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy bragged that this was “the LARGEST SPENDING CUT that Congress has ever voted for in history.”
But when you strip away all of the rhetoric the spending “cuts” in this debt ceiling deal are actually increases in real spending. That means the enormous budget deficits will continue.
The fact that the “largest spending cut” ever is going to increase spending tells you everything you need to know about Washington DC.
And the sad reality is there is no way that the federal government spending will be contained by this deal. The spending limits will last right up to the moment the government comes up with some new emergency to justify more spending.
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