Lawmakers and the White House are haggling over the conditions under which they will, once again, temporarily raise that cap, known as the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling, which has been around in some form for about a century, is sometimes portrayed as a way to impose fiscal discipline upon spendthrift legislators. Lawmakers have cut taxes and raised spending, over and over, and later hiked the debt ceiling to allow the government to cover the (lately widening ) difference. Now, you might think the specter of another U.S.-caused worldwide financial Armageddon might motivate politicians to raise the debt ceiling, pronto. Even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has at times seemed open to eliminating the debt ceiling, late Monday said she wouldn’t consider a debt-limit increase without a broader budget deal that raises spending.

Source: Washington Post July 15, 2019 22:59 UTC