This Debt Ceiling Fight is Different
- BY FGA
Year after year, Congress votes to raise the debt ceiling to keep America from defaulting on its borrowing.
And year after year, the country groans about kicking the proverbial can down the road before the debt ceiling is ultimately lifted, the box checked, and we all move on until the next debt ceiling looms. These debates and negotiations are so commonplace that the debt ceiling has been modified more than 100 times since World War II.
2023 is different.
By including the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act and work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps in this must-pass bill, the new House majority is taking a crucial step forward in actually addressing out-of-control spending and our workforce woes.
No matter what happens in negotiations with the White House and Senate, including these policies is a sign of a different mindset in this new Congress—one that prioritizes serious solutions to our serious problems.
The Center for Excellence in Polling surveyed likely voters of all political parties and found that majorities support requiring able-bodied adults with no children at home to work, train, or volunteer at least part time as a condition of eligibility for major welfare programs.
Nearly three-quarters of likely voters support work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps, including two-thirds of Democrats (food stamps) and 70 percent of Independents (Medicaid).
In addition to work requirements, voters support placing limits on government spending. Sixty-seven percent of voters think Congress should only raise the debt ceiling if it includes a federal spending reduction, and 70 percent support requiring federal bureaucratic agencies to get congressional approval before costly regulations are allowed to go into effect.
These results shouldn’t come as a surprise for Washington.
Sky-high inflation has families struggling to heat/cool their homes and put food on their tables. And the Biden administration’s never-ending efforts to grow the welfare state is an all-out assault on work. Our worker shortage is at crisis levels and the welfare state is trapping a new generation in the cycle of dependency.
The REINS Act and Medicaid and food stamp work requirements are proven solutions that can help us stop kicking the can down the road for another century.
