Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner
“Stage One of the manufactured crisis over the debt ceiling is the fast-approaching June 1 X-date, when the Treasury no longer has authorization from Congress to increase the public debt. Stage Two hits next fall when Congress takes up the budget for fiscal year 2024. The two deadlines are legally separate but politically related in several ways, none of them auspicious. The immediate risk is that President Biden bows to pressure from Republicans, Wall Street, media hysteria, and Third Way types in his own party to make a deal with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to increase the debt ceiling in June in exchange for severe budget cuts in October, either explicitly or by formula. Biden’s message on this is decidedly muddled.” (05/16/23)
https://prospect.org/economy/2023-05-16-budget-farce-travesty-in-two-acts/