OPINION:
The new House speaker is on a mission to curb Washington profligacy. That, combined with a growing public backlash against the shrinking value of their dollars, portend a jarring, three-word wake-up call for President Biden and his spendthrift allies: Enough is enough.
Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson’s elevation to the top leadership role in the House last week was the culmination of an exhausting struggle to replace deposed fellow Republican Kevin McCarthy. Mr. Johnson brings optimism to the prospect of mending the nation’s broken budgetary process, and it will take only a few weeks to know whether this is merely wishful thinking.
Congress has until Nov. 17 to replace the current continuing resolution with a genuine budget for fiscal 2024. At the very least, Mr. Johnson has his priorities straight.
“The greatest threat to our national security is our nation’s debt, and while we’ve been sitting in this room — that’s right — the debt has crossed almost $33.6 trillion, and in time it’s going to take me to deliver this speech, we will go up $20 million in debt. It’s unsustainable,” he told the assembled chamber following his election.
President Biden saddled Americans with a record $1.7 trillion in new debt in fiscal 2023 alone, much of it coronavirus relief that he refused to dial back once the pandemic subsided. The nation’s muscular, 4.9% third-quarter annualized gross domestic product is likely the final spurt of the dollar-devouring machine before the government-led financial fuel runs dry.
Net interest on the cumulative debt in the fiscal year cost taxpayers $659 billion. Looking ahead, interest payments are on course to surpass the entire U.S. defense budget by 2033. “Unsustainable” is a polite way of describing the coming economic crackup.
Mr. Johnson is promoting the establishment of a bipartisan House debt commission. His plan may be the triumph of hope over experience, though: Spinning off troubles for study is Washington’s way of sidelining them. With the clock ticking toward a government shutdown next month, only slash-and-burn tactics — which neither party relishes — promise quick results.
Still, there are signs of progress in reining in spending. Thus far this year, lawmakers have enacted legislation on track to produce $1.3 trillion in net savings over 10 years, the Committee on Responsible Federal Budget says. In a Thursday post, the organization points to reduced spending from the June-enacted Fiscal Responsibility Act, which imposed spending caps on defense and nondefense discretionary spending for fiscal 2024 and 2025, and dialed back funds for COVID and the IRS.
U.S. taxpayers are more than ready for a return to financial sanity. The cumulative, 17.2% Biden-era inflation rate has left a deep dent in the public’s economic outlook. A September YouGov survey found 24% of respondents naming inflation and prices as their top concerns — more than double the 11% who cited health care as the second-place worry. With a presidential election year on the horizon, voter angst mustn’t be blithely ignored.
Americans should never underestimate their government’s ability to overspend. Still, fresh House leadership that Mike Johnson represents offers a glimmer of hope that their tax dollars may one day be spent with the same care with which they were earned.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.