May 13, 2011
The Washington Post had a piece reporting on the Senate Republicans’ positions on the debt ceiling. At one point the article tells readers:
“McConnell’s assistance is also critical to Senate Democrats. Unless they can win Republican votes, they would have to approve one of the largest debt-limit increases in U.S. history entirely on their own — an unappetizing prospect for up to a dozen potentially vulnerable incumbents who are up for reelection next year.”
Actually, almost all of the cuts that McConnell would insist upon as part of a deal to increase the debt ceiling are likely to pose far more political problems for Democrats up for re-election than voting for a higher debt ceiling. The vast majority of voters have no idea of what the debt ceiling is nor how large any particular increase is relative to anything in the world. This is largely due to the fact that the media almost never puts this issue into any context, for example pointing out that the main reason the debt has soared is due to the recession caused by the collapse of the housing bubble.
To most voters, a politician voting to raise the debt ceiling by any amount simply means that he/she voted to allow increased borrowing of “a really big number.” By contrast, a deal with Senator McConnell would mean cutting Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment insurance and/or other programs that enjoy the overwhelming support of the electorate. It is far from clear that Democratic politicians would do better in the next election if they take the Post’s advice and agree to these cuts in order to get Senator McConnell’s support on raising the debt ceiling.
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