Joe Biden's debt ceiling catastrophe

It's indisputable that Joe Biden's classified documents fiasco is getting tons of attention. Another thing that's getting tons of attention is the debt ceiling limit. That won't disappear anytime soon. Actually, the debt ceiling won't disappear as a topic until Biden negotiates a deal with Kevin McCarthy. That deal must include spending cuts in future budget cycles. That's the only way this works.

Daniel Henninger's weekly column lays out why it's required. Henninger wrote "Joe Biden promised normalcy. This spending isn’t normal, and the American people know it. If Mr. Biden can’t find the words to talk about it, voters may start looking for someone who will." Earlier in the article, Henninger wrote "The spending rivers included a bipartisan Covid-relief bill of $2.2 trillion; the American Rescue Plan’s $1.9 trillion, and then a bipartisan infrastructure bill of $1 trillion. Mr. Biden’s 2023 budget proposal was for $5.7 trillion. In December he signed a $1.7 trillion spending bill."

This isn't normal by any stretch of the imagination. This is historic spending without a legitimate reason. Joe Biden fancies himself as an historic figure. That's beyond stupid. If Biden is anything more than a footnote in U.S. presidential history, it'll happen because of his sloppy mishandling of classified documents.

Against this backdrop, Mr. Biden and his party make it clear that their plan isn’t prioritization. It’s to keep shoveling more of your tax dollars into the federal furnace. The question at the center of this is, How indeed do we "control" spending?

The flip-side of that question is this: Why won't Democrats stop spending like drunken sailors? Republicans shouldn't frame this as fight over raising the debt ceiling. With the exception of Andy Biggs, everyone agrees that we'll raise the debt ceiling. The only question left is whether we'll tie that debt ceiling fight to responsible spending cuts. Frankly, I don't see how politicians on either side of the aisle says no to responsible spending cuts.

A terrific place to start might be the annual GAO report on duplicative programs. Check this out:

GAO identified 94 new actions in 21 new and nine existing areas for Congress or executive branch agencies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government. For example:

The Department of Energy could pursue less expensive disposal options of nuclear and hazardous waste, such as immobilizing waste in grout, which could help save tens of billions of dollars.

Contracting leaders at federal agencies should use metrics measuring cost reduction or avoidance to improve the performance of their procurement organizations and potentially save billions of dollars annually.

Congress should consider directing the Department of Health and Human Services to implement additional payment reductions for Skilled Nursing Facilities with high rates of potentially preventable hospital readmissions and emergency room visits, potentially saving hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicare costs.

Most importantly, these ideas wouldn't cut services. Next, they'd slow inflation without slowing the economy. This report is from 11 years ago:

Explain why anyone wouldn't want to be part of this cost-cutting initiative. This is the easiest way to look responsible imaginable.

Finally, why is Biden taking such a hardline position on this? If he wanted to look like he's cutting inflation, he should jump all over this with both feet.