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Biden believes these sorts of compromises help restore trust and optimism about the US government actually being capable of responsible governing.
Biden’s decision is a clear reminder of the importance that US domestic politics continue to play in setting the terms for US strategy and credibility in the region.
The Budget Control Act (BCA) is one of the few fiscal controls on spending. Passed in 2011, the BCA was part of a deal to raise the nation’s debt limit while simultaneously cutting and controlling spending to rein in growing budget deficits and stabilize the federal budget. The BCA has been successful at controlling discretionary spending growth and cutting some mandatory spending but has far too often been undermined by the actions of Congress. In fiscal year (FY) 2018, the future of the BCA remains unclear.
Medicare patients today face reduced access to care, which will inevitably be rationed through the Affordable Care Act’s relentless payment cuts. Medicare premium support, long a bipartisan proposal, is the best alternative to this unhappy scenario.
The debt limit is an archaic relic of World War I that should have been abolished long ago, but lives on and emerges periodically to threaten the U.S. economy like a zombie from The Living Dead.