© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Republicans, Democrats Agree Changes In Debt Policies Needed

http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Chion/DS%20110728%20Debt%20Ceiling.mp3

There’s not much that Republicans and Democrats agree on in the current debt-ceiling standoff. But one thing that all sides accept is that the nation's legal borrowing cap has failed in its primary goal: limiting the nation's red ink. From Washington Deirdre Shesgreen of the Connecticut Mirror reports.

No one can anyone argue that the debt ceiling has served to rein in federal borrowing. The cap has been lifted at least 80 times and the U.S. government’s total debt stands at about $14.3 trillion.

Himes:

"As a mechanism for controlling the debt it is obviously a manifest failure.”

That’s congressman Jim Himes, a 4th District Democrat and former Wall Street investment banker. Himes and others say this crisis should prompt a broader debate over whether the debt-ceiling is a well-intentioned policy gone terribly wrong, or a still-useful tool that needs to be tweaked.

Budget watchdog groups note that the debt ceiling has always been used to embarrass the party that controls the White House. But the current stalemate is a much bigger gamble.

Congress faces an Aug. 2 deadline, at which point Treasury officials have said they will not have enough money to pay the U.S.'s current financial obligations and will be at risk of defaulting.

But if you think this stalemate is bad, imagine how it used to work: Before 1917, Congress voted on each individual loan the U.S. Treasury took out and debate every time the government wanted to issue new bonds.

By the time World War I rolled around, that didn't make too much sense anymore. So lawmakers gave the Treasury Department more leeway and by 1939, the debt ceiling as we now know it was in place.

The debt ceiling is a cap on the legal authority of Treasury to borrow money-a mechanism that was supposed to allow Congress to keep a grip on the federal purse.

But it’s been raised so many times that lawmakers like Himes are arguing for an update.

"We ought to either do away with it or at least make the process honest … because right now everybody gets to vote for all the bills they love that spend more and tax less and then they turn around and vote against the debt ceiling."
 

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.