Boehner and 150 Economists Make Statements Against Clean Debt Ceiling Increase

This morning, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) released a statement signed by more than 150 economists furthering the call for spending cuts that exceed any raise in the debt ceiling. This is just one more in a series of letters and statements from Senators, experts, former Administration officials, and business leaders all calling for serious and responsible solutions to dealing with our fiscal situation. The statement comes the morning after the House voted down a bill that would have increased the debt limit $2.4 trillion, but which included no spending reductions.

The statement reads:

An increase in the national debt limit that is not accompanied by significant spending cuts and budget reforms to address our government’s spending addiction will harm private-sector job creation in America.  It is critical that any debt limit legislation enacted by Congress include spending cuts and reforms that are greater than the accompanying increase in debt authority being granted to the president.  We will not succeed in balancing the federal budget and overcoming the challenges of our debt until we succeed in committing ourselves to government policies that allow our economy to grow.  An increase in the national debt limit that is not accompanied by significant spending cuts and budget reforms would harm private-sector job growth and represent a tremendous setback in the effort to deal with our national debt.

Today, House Republicans went to the White House to meet with President Obama to discuss increasing the statutory debt ceiling. Reports suggest that meeting produced little movement toward an agreement. 

As we noted in our Debt Ceiling Watch blog, today the Treasury Department reaffirmed that August 2 is still the date it projects that the Federal government will reach the debt limit. Congress and the President must responsibly increase the debt limit as soon as possible in order to avoid a default while giving confidence to the markets that we will rein in our debt.

Click here to read the statement released by Rep. Boehner and see the full list of signatories.