A Blueprint for Balance

Speaker Pelosi and Secretary of the Treasury Mnuchin reached a deal to suspend the debt ceiling and break through the budget caps to increase spending—this deal is a “lose-lose” for conservatives.

As we discussed on last week’s call, the debt ceiling and spending caps are two very different issues that should be addressed separately. This deal brings up three major concerns for conservatives:

• The debt ceiling should be raised by a dollar amount, not a date set to expire. Setting the debt limit to expire became common practice during the Obama administration because it allowed members of Congress to avoid having to go on the record by voting on $1 trillion debt increases. This provides cover for representatives in Washington. Members of Congress should have to publicly reevaluate spending each year.
• Spending should be maintained below the overall budget cap. It is our duty to our children to spend responsibly. Any spending increase in defense should be coupled with a spending decrease in non-defense discretionary spending. The Heritage Foundation’s Blueprint for Balance provides the vision to balance the budget while maintaining a strong military.
• Spending agreements should not include any anti-life or SOGI (sexual-orientation and gender-identity) provisions. Any attempt to include these liberal agenda items in this spending package should be immediately rejected by conservatives.

Taxpayers across America are frustrated with spending increases over the recent years — and still, liberals in Congress want to bust through the debt ceiling and increase non-defense discretionary spending before the August recess.

There is an important distinction to be made between the debt limit and spending caps:

• Debt Limit: The total amount of money that the federal government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations: Social Security, Medicare, interest on debt, military salaries, etc.
• Spending Caps: The total amount of money the government is authorized to spend in order to run the government — broken up into two funding categories:
  Non-Defense Discretionary (NDD) Spending: Resources for the Departments of Labor, Education, Health and Human Services, etc.
  Defense Spending: Resources to keep our military and national defense running

In backroom deals, Pelosi is negotiating a plan to couple raising the debt ceiling without reforms and pair it with an increase of NDD spending. Conservatives should fiercely oppose any deal that raises the debt ceiling without spending reforms.

Not only that, but liberals in Congress are prepared to increase NDD spending without any meaningful offsets.

If our families are expected to balance our checkbooks every month, why can’t Congress rein in their spending?

An across the board increase in spending would be terrible for Americans. As the Heritage Foundation has demonstrated with its “Blueprint for Balance,” it is possible to increase defense spending while decreasing other discretionary spending in order to stay within the top line budget caps that the Budget Control Act set.

More From Heritage Action: