With Obama in office, why vote to raise the deficit cap?

[Jackson5050]

TheRealMafoo said:

Obama vowed to not vote for a policy if it’s not at least deficit neutral.

If he is going to veto anything that raises the deficit, why worry about the cap?

 

 

Well, there are a few reasons why the debt ceiling would have to be raised even if Obama did not allow the passage of legislation that added to the deficit. First, the U.S. pays ~$400 billion in interest on its outstanding debt. If all the legislation passed by congress did not increase the deficit, the government would still be required to pay interest on outstanding debt thereby possibly necessitating raising the debt ceiling. Second, there are supplemental appropriations that are outside the deficit and could increase the national debt which could also necessitate an increase in the debt ceiling. See. there are scenarios that could necessitate raising the debt ceiling without increasing the deficit. Also, in response to your first sentence, Obama cannot vote for legislation. He is now the president and not a member of congress.