How Lessons From 2011 Influenced 2023’s Debt Ceiling Talks
Summary from the AllSides News Team
It might seem like this year’s debt ceiling politics are unprecedented, but this has happened before — in 2011, under the Obama administration.
What Happened: As in 2023, the U.S. hit the debt limit in 2011, prompting negotiations between House Republicans and the Obama administration. Then-Vice President Joe Biden, leading the Democratic negotiators, described the initial talks as trading “bicycles” for “golf clubs.” However, lawmakers later struggled to reach a deal, passing a bill less than 72 hours before the U.S. was set to default. As a consequence, S.& P. downgraded its credit rating for long-term federal debt, citing “the gulf between the political parties.” The 2011 deal created a committee to find ways to cut spending beyond what was already agreed upon, but the committee did not accomplish its goal.
Lessons for the Right: In the Washington Examiner (Lean Right bias), a writer from the Bipartisan Policy Center (Not Rated) called 2011 “instructive,” because lawmakers made “modest progress and avoided financial catastrophe.” Economists quoted by Vox (Left bias) said Republicans learned that debt limit talks were “basically the only time” spending cuts and the deficit were discussed.
Lessons for the Left: Citing “a half-dozen current and former advisers,” The New York Times (Lean Left bias) reported that 2011's “bitter compromise” convinced now-President Biden to separate the debt limit from budget negotiations and to not negotiate with a House speaker whose caucus left him “little room to negotiate.”
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
The lessons of the 2011 debt ceiling crisis, explained by the negotiators who were thereIf the 2023 debt ceiling standoff feels familiar, that’s because it is.
More than a decade ago — in 2011 — Congress was in a very similar position after Republicans retook the House, and Democrats held the White House and the Senate. Then, as now, the GOP was balking on an increase to the debt ceiling unless they got the spending cuts they demanded.
This week, House Republicans passed their debt ceiling legislation, setting the stage for what could be another tense showdown with calamitous implications for the country’s economy. As of late...
From the Center
The clock ticks on the debt limit: Lessons from America's last debt ceiling crisisThe U.S. debt limit clock is ticking.
A political stand-off in Washington on the U.S. debt limit is pushing the country perilously close to default.
In 2011, the country came within 72 hours of that happening.
Today, On Point: What’s the path forward? We hear lessons from America's last debt ceiling crisis.
Claudia Grisales: "Where they started, they were really far apart. When you look at the beginning of the year, Biden and McCarthy had not even met. They had an initial meeting in February. And Biden said, I want to see...
From the Right
Kevin McCarthy’s Debt-Ceiling DisadvantageHouse speaker Kevin McCarthy’s narrow majority will put him at a distinct disadvantage in the debt-ceiling fight relative to what John Boehner had to work with back in 2011.
The reason is that during these sorts of standoffs between the House and Senate, it’s always helpful to the negotiating position of one chamber when the majority party is able to pass a bill, and then deflect blame to the other chamber for blocking it.
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