A Show About Nothing

What was the point of the debt-ceiling fight?

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Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy in the U.S. Capitol Building on May 30, 2023. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

We have a deal.

Most prominent populist Republicans hate it, theatrically so.

If you’re not sure how seriously to take them, let me demonstrate in two soundbites. One comes from the governor of Florida, speaking on Monday.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    It may have been theater, but this whole escapade restored my faith in the American Congress and elevated my opinion of Kevin McCarthy. They passed this test. Which gives them leverage for the next time around. They have a playbook that allows them to work together behind the scenes in private while talking a big game in public and giving both “mavericks” like Nancy Mace and populists a way to save face with their constituents. Take what you can get. This was a good outcome. A lot of people owe McCarthy an apology. I seriously underestimated him.

    “ The answer, obviously, is that this was a political rather than policy exercise ”

    You say that like it’s a bad thing.

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  2. Avatar photo
    Rick Henderson

    A bit of “local” information for the sake of context: The noisiest congresscritter calling for McCarthy’s ouster is Dan Bishop, who won the congressional seat that was vacated as a result of Republican (!) voter fraud (see: Mark Harris). Reports are that Bishop plans to run for state attorney general next year (https://www.axios.com/local/raleigh/2023/05/02/rep-dan-bishop-is-weighing-a-run-for-nc-attorney-general). If so, he has no incentive to make Congress marginally functional and every desire to perform well for the MAGA-dominated state GOP.

    Bishop is pure bluster and not a serious person in the congressional caucus, in Boebert/MTG land.

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  3. Pishposh

    I'm soooooo sick of these waste of time, shinny object arguments.

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  4. Mary Stine

    Republicans see "The Deficit" as Seymour, the man eating plant in Little Shop of Horrors. He's just going to keep getting bigger and hungrier. In some ways, this is correct, as uncontrolled debt will cost more to service every cycle as it grows bigger.
    Democrats see "The Deficit" as an odd tree that is sometimes quite poisonous, like a cashew, but will yield edible fruit if handled carefully, and provide nutrients and shelter as part of an ecosystem. There is some truth in this also.
    The problem with both viewpoints is that both sides have exaggerated fear while failing to present real, current factual information without bias.

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  5. Dougrhon

    Fights over the debt ceiling limit have taken place regularly for decades. They have always been political theater and nothing more. Traditionally, the Democrats are able to successfully blame the Republicans and gain a political advantage from it. Biden, being about as mainstream establishment as a Democrat can get naturally expected to reap similar benefits to Obama and Clinton back in the day. He didn't. Whatever it is on substance, it comes out as a win (though a slight one) for McCarthy and his caucus. Naturally this will annoy and anger the punditry that favors the Democrats (most of it). They will call dirty pool which is what they do anytime any Republican anywhere for any reason opposes Democratic priorities. It will all blow over in less than a week and no one will remember or care.

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  6. Nemmerle924

    Considering about 75% of Congress wants to keep spending high and only LOOK like they cut spending, this deal is realistically the best that could be expected. There are some real (small) spending cuts and claw-backs.

    We can hate where the balance of power is in this tug-of-war. We can hate the fact that the real problem remains unaddressed. But until there's REAL weight behind spending cutting, this is the best that could reasonably be expected.

    If we want deficit cutting to be a priority, the FIRST thing to do is elect a lot more deficit-cutters. We have not crossed that bridge yet.

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  7. Brett

    Think your talking point that we need to cut entitlements to trim the debt is out of date. We used to say that when budget deficits were zero or small. We've now locked in covid spending as a permanent 1.5 trillion or more yearly deficit, which is crazy. Think you could leave entitlements alone and returning to 2018ish spending levels would not be too draconian. Wouldn't pay down debt, agree we need entitlement reform to do THAT, but a nearly balanced budget would be a big improvement.

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  8. Pundette

    These dramas over the debt ceiling thud into place periodically like your six-year old's dance recitals.

    The tiresome outcome is assured from the start, but everyone has to behave as though this is some sort of high stakes event. There are no surprises. No breakout stars. No too-tragically embarrassing falls. The steps have all been rehearsed and will be performed clumsily. It's all dutifully recorded on videotape that nobody will ever watch. The bored audience applauds dutifully and over-enthusiastically, as at some actual accomplishment. There are some hurt feelings, some tears, as there always are, but also hugs all around.

    Then everyone goes out for ice cream.

    And a few months later, we do it all over again.

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    1. Mary Stine

      This is great! I'll smile all day thinking of this!

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      1. Pundette

        ;-)

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    2. Avatar photo
      Will I Am

      That’s a great metaphor! Well done.

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      1. Pundette

        ;-)

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  9. MikeS

    There's an underlying assumption here that GOP populists care about the country's fiscal health. Where on earth did that come from?

    And let's be clear: deficits are the result of spending in excess of revenue. To ignore the revenue side is to be unserious about deficits.

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  10. R. James

    Considering all the bluster about the HRC, all four democrats on the rules committee voted with Roy and Norman to block the bill. Luckily they failed 7-6, but it took Massie of all people to send the bill through to the floor. Not exactly the clean Dems good, GOP bad narrative that people here like to pretend.

    Also, the CBO estimates that the bill will cut deficits by $1.5 trillion over the next decade. That's certainly not "nothing".

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    1. Bstarr

      Among Hilary Rodham Clinton, the Human Rights Campaign and the House Republican Caucus I am struggling with any HRC reference (of which all are in negative in their context).

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      1. R. James

        It's House Rules Committee. I made the mistake of thinking the commenters actually read the article they are commenting on....let alone the rest of my sentence.

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      2. Dustin Ragan

        House Rules Committee

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About Nick Catoggio

Nick Catoggio is a staff writer at The Dispatch and is based in Texas. Prior to joining the company in 2022, he spent 16 years gradually alienating a populist readership at Hot Air. When Nick isn’t busy writing a daily newsletter on politics, he’s … probably planning the next day’s newsletter.
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