Ceiling Their Fate: Congress Needs to Fix Its Spending Problem – Or Else

A “ceiling” should be the upper limit of your home and thus it should be so with government spending. Ceilings should never be raised unless you’re adding a floor to your home.

Regarding the debt ceiling, the actions of our elected officials aren’t above you, but beneath contempt.

The only beneficiaries of this federal farce are the entitled elected class whose pockets and egos are filled by their own machinations.

The now dead-on-arrival continuing resolution intended to prevent a government shutdown is the perfect example of pork-infused nonsense. It proves how out of touch our political elite have become.

On Monday, this 1500-page monstrosity dropped after “serious,” “bi-partisan” negotiations. The hope, as has been the case with many costly, misbegotten legislative behemoths (think Obamacare) is a vote to pass it would occur before anyone could read it.

Every American should shudder when the term “bipartisan” is used to describe the process a bill undergoes to obtain passage. This term masks greedy, unscrupulous backroom politics which means taxpayers will receive the amorous affection of the elected without the benefit of a kiss.

Instead of proposing a clean resolution, one in which only increasing the debt ceiling was on the table, this absurdity included disaster assistance for hurricane damage, an extension of existing farm legislation, provisions to improve RFK stadium so the Washington Commanders could play in D.C. instead of Maryland, and a congressional pay raise.

These negotiations beget a bill that increases the debt ceiling and spending all at once. It’s like filling your car with gas while drilling a hole in the fuel tank. This guarantees the cost will be high and the consequences dangerous.

It cannot be worse to have the government shut down than to recklessly barrel down the highway of fiscal insolvency with drunken fools at the wheel. Fools who at every opportunity should refuse the next sip of taxpayer’s money instead say, “Make mine a double.”

The comedian Nipsey Russell once said, “If progress means to go forward, then what does Congress mean?”

I’m not sure, but it isn’t synonymous with common sense.

If the government shuts down temporarily so that logic and sobriety can reduce the size, scope, reach, and cost of government then it’s worth the risk. In this case, shutting down the government represents actual progress.

Progress in the form of real deliberation on debt, its structure, and its consequences.

As with all debt ceiling stalemates, both parties want to use the opportunity to injure the other and damage their opponents’ chances in the next election. Never showing any concern for improving how the government works or improving the lives of their constituents.

Congressional representatives should stop plotting new and innovative ways to force themselves through this type of legislation on Americans and instead acknowledge that no means no. The 2024 election was the biggest “NO” ever sent to the establishment and their government.

Trump will arrive officially soon, and the time to stop preying on the public’s fears begins now.

When Trump intervened on Wednesday the mammoth bill was suddenly reduced to a mere 116 pages. More than 1300 pages cast aside, why? Because they were unnecessary and wasteful.

Government of, by, and for the people isn’t a new idea, but one that has long lay dormant under the dust of a government monolith built over its tomb. That dormancy is over with the return of Trump, which brings an opportunity to renew American greatness.

Congress can fix the debt, and this begins with a single-issue continuing resolution that admits to America’s spending problem while presenting a framework for debt reduction.

If they can’t do that they’ll be “ceiling” their fate.

The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either d or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.

Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.