Bit delayed as house members are taking votes right now. So when those votes are over, we do expect this hearing to get under way. Of course, we will have live coverage here on cspan 3. While we wait for this hearing we will go to this mornings washington journal and show you a discussion on efforts to eliminate the debt ceiling. Brendan back to our desk, a member of the House Budget Committee author of new legislation aimed at abolishing the debt ceiling. Remind us what the debt ceiling is and why it was instituted in the first place. Im still trying to figure that out. Congress authorizes and then appropriates funds. They make that decision. But then at some date later when total debt reaches a certain limit, Congress Also has to raise the debt ceiling, raise the limit under which it can borrow. So you can have a situation if congress failed to raise the debt ceiling in which congress has decided to authorize funding, appropriate it, and then years later say no, were actually not going to pay our bills even though we approved this funding. So i try i make the analogy and i think an accurate one, imagine if a consumer went out with a credit card, bought 100 worth of goods, and then 30 days later gets the credit card bill and says im not going to pay it, let me joust thrust throw i trash. It would be irresponsible. It would ruin that consumers Consumer Credit rating and it would blowup the Interest Rates by which the consumer could later borrow. So having a debt seal objecticet do anything to reduce our debt. We continue to go through this game every six months or every year in which increasingly we flirt without not raising the debt ceiling. I want to point out even when we came close to not doing it in 2011, when you saw a reduction in the Credit Rating of the united states, and the general accounting office, the gao, estimated that cost us 1. 3 billion. So already just having the debt ceiling has had a negative effect to u. S. Taxpayers. The total u. S. National debt, and we talked about this in our first segment of our program passed the 20 trillion milestone last friday. Its been explained to me by other members who have sat in your position, the debt ceiling at least forces lawmakers to think about that number, to consider what theyre spending money on, to consider maybe making tradeoffs rather than putting more on that credit card. I would respond. But does it . Have you seen any sort of weve gone through a debt ceiling song and dance or soap opera every six months or so for at least the last six years. I havent seen any meaningful reform in terms of our longterm debt. I think in that regard its been remarkably ineffective. Were you happy with the deal that came together last week when it came to raising the debt sealing . I was, yeah. And im glad that we didnt get close to the september 30th or so deadline. I wish that we had extended it further than we did. It looks like well bring it back up in december, although we could probably go as late as march depending on what happens between then and now. But you know, that sort of uncertainty is never good for the markets, never good for businesses attempting to plan. The quicker we get to a point where we eliminate that sort of doubt once and for all is a good thing. By the way, i would be open, i have to say as someone who does we believe a longterm debt challenge, especially the measure to look at is our debt in relation to our gdp. Theres no question its challenging now. If we could couple the elimination the whole concept of the debt limit, if we could eliminate that and couple it with some sort of mechanism that would force us, whether its a commission, Binding Commission or Something Like that to really grapple with our longterm debt issues, i will be open to that. I think that would be a fair and reasonable compromise that would accomplish maybe what some people think the debt ceiling was intended to accomplish. But clearly has not been doing so. It would raise the debt ceiling for a little while. Harvey aid included in that. In that sense did the debt ceiling debate bring the majority and minority together and in that sense, does having the debt ceiling allow for some compromise to happen in congress . Regardless of the debt ceiling getting close to where we rupp b up against that debt ceiling, we still have to fund the government for next year. I think the fact that september 30th was the end of our fiscal year, youre going to have that discussion and debate anyway. Were going to be having it again in december. Because of course funding the government, we did it by cr only through december 15th. So youre going to see that happen independent of a debt ceiling debate. If we raise the debt ceiling, some might ask where does this number end thats now passed 20 trillion . That gets to one of my points. Suppose we raise it to 21 trillion. It does nothing actually to deal with the longterm debt issues that we have as a country. So if the idea of a debt ceiling is a tool by which we would really grapple a longterm debt issues, it has been remarkably ineffective. Theres been no den fit and theres only been costs. I cited the j. O. Study. That was in 2011. Economists also believe in 2013 it shaved some off our gdp because that was another time in which congress flirted with not raising the debt ceiling. If you have a question for congressman brendan, phone numbers. Hes with us for about the next 25 minutes here. Matts up first in texas. A line for democrats. Matt, go ahead. Yes. Thank you. Good morning, congressman boyle. Quick comment. I just want to say thank you for the work that you and our congressmen do in the blue collar caucus. Thanks for what you do there. I just want to say we can talk about raising the debt ceiling, raising the debt limit, thats great. But there has been numerous attempts as you probably know, to come up with, theres been gang of six two of our Witnesses Today that made