House Republicans will be blamed if a deal isn’t reached on the debt ceiling, and they will be held responsible for the fallout. The White House is looking for every opportunity to blame someone else for the miserable economy — including today’s economic numbers showing we are dangerously close to another recession.
Speaker Boehner recognizes this risk more than anyone, and he is doing everything he can to put together a bill that will get to 218 votes.
The debt crisis is a health spending crisis, plain and simple, and real change will take much longer. Government spending on health-care entitlements will bankrupt this nation unless we reform these programs. And Obamacare’s new entitlement programs will make the problems much, much worse.
We must take the long view and know that the American people want to have confidence that their leaders can govern. Passing the debt ceiling bill in the House will provide that confidence so that conservatives can continue the real work of scaling back government and providing the climate for a prosperous economic future.
Posted on National Review Online: Critical Condition, July 29, 2011.