Government reaches debt ceiling

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - With the Government hitting the debt ceiling Congress must decide between defaulting or raising that limit.

The debt ceiling was established by Congress in 1917, and limits money the government is allowed to borrow. Reaching this limit means they are spending more than they’re taking in.

“We’ve been completely upside down for the last 10 years, where the US government spends well more, you know, far exceeds the amount of money that they’re taking in in revenue. Ultimately they have to cut spending, or we have to increase revenue, which means tax raises which is not very popular if you’re a politician” said Dr. Steve Garrison, an MSU Texas political science professor.

Should Congress not come to a decision on increasing the debt ceiling, they would have to default, and cut spending wherever they can.

“These downgrades impact consumers because you’re going to have to pay higher interest rates, so mortgage rates went up during this time,” Economics Consultant Dr. Sarah Quintanar said. “It’s also... a default is costly to people who receive benefits from the government, so social security, Medicare, those benefits can be paused if the debt ceiling isn’t raised.”

It’s rare that the government defaults instead of raising their limit, but if they do we aren’t predicted to see repercussions until early June.