‘We Have to Pay Our Sins’: Lawmakers Must Negotiate Way Out of US Debt Crisis: Sen. Manchin

Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. has called for Republican and Democrat legislators to come together to solve the United States’ debt crisis. He pointed out that Trump and Biden both contributed to the nation’s ballooning debt.

America’s debt is now at $31.4 trillion and must be increased. This requires that both sides negotiate an agreement. However, Republicans and Democrats have been stuck in an impasse. Manchin criticised this situation in his speech At the Senate chamber, March 2.

“My Democratic friends don’t want to say a word about our out-of-control spending and outright refusing to even talk to republicans about reasonable and responsible reforms. All we hear is about we have to have a clean debt ceiling … We have to pay [for] our sins of the past but can’t we at least sit down and discuss, just discuss how did we get here so fast?” Manchin spoke.

“My Republican friends refuse to offer any specifics and some have threatened default which is absolutely not on the table, cannot be on the table, and will not happen. I can assure you. We’ll never solve the problems by each party running in opposite directions and we’ll only be able to change course by coming together, embracing common sense, and finding common ground.”

Manchin stated that during four years of Trump’s administration, the United States added $7.5 trillion to its projected debt levels. This includes $4 trillion unrelated to COVID.

According to President Joe Biden more than $5 Trillion has been already added to the projected debt levels. He also said there was $2.5 Trillion that is not directly related to the pandemic. “So, whoever you want to blame, we’re all at fault.”

US Debt is massive

Manchin, a senator from Missouri, pointed out that the federal spending for 2013 was lower than $3.5 trillion. Today, however, the federal spending has risen to $6.2 trillion. “In ten short years, less than ten. That’s an 80 percent increase,” Manchin said.

He pointed out that the total revenue in 2022 was $4.9 trillion and that there was a $1.4 trillion deficit. Each year for the last 21 years has been a record. “we’ve been spending more than we bring in in our government … And the debt that has resulted is absolutely crippling.”

With $31.4 trillion in U.S. debt, that is $94,000 per American citizen. Over $600 billion in 2023 will be spent “just on basically servicing the debt of the nation.”

“All you can do is pay the interest. You can’t even touch the principal because you’re barely able to pay the interest. But think about this. Just the interest on our debt is more than $5,000 per household in America,” Manchin spoke.

“If we continue down the path that we’re on, we will have accumulated by 2050 nearly $130 trillion of public debt. We’re $31.46 trillion right now. Just to service the interest on the debt will be $5 trillion a year.”

Perform duties

A Democrat senator asked President Biden, Congress and to “do their jobs right now, no exceptions or excuses.”

“What I’m going to be telling now is something we’ve not practiced since I’ve been here for 12 years. We need to pass a budget on time. Pass a budget on time. That’s by September 30. The president is already a month behind schedule when he submits his budget next week. It was due on February 6.”

On April 1, the Senate Budget Committee will have to submit their budget resolution. The Senate and the House must reach an agreement on budgets by April 15. Manchin stated that all spending bills should be passed by September 30.

“If we don’t pass a budget, we as the elected leaders from the president all the way down, we shouldn’t get paid, period. Think about this. The American workers, they don’t get paid if they don’t get their job done. They don’t get paid if they don’t work. And neither should any of us,” He said.

“The continued weaponization of the debt and deficit and the political games we all play need to stop. They need to stop.”

Congress set the current debt ceiling at $31.4 trillion in 2022. The limit was set by Congress in 2022. It would have been broken on Jan. 19. However, the Treasury took “extraordinary measures” Keep the nation solvent up to June

Phillip Swagel is the director of CBO’s Congressional Budget Office. warned The government can borrow money using “extraordinary measures” If the debt limit is not increased, then all funds will run out between July and September.

His State of the Union address Biden asked Congress to increase the debt limit indefinitely on February 7. One day prior, Kevin McCarthy, the House Speaker (R-Calif.), stated that he supports only a “responsible” The debt ceiling will be increased.