The budget and the debt: Speaker Kevin McCarthy must agree to raise the borrowing ceiling

President Joe Biden’s proposed budget for the federal fiscal year that starts on Oct. 1 would spend $6.8 trillion off revenues of only $5 trillion in taxes collected. The imbalance, a $1.8 trillion deficit, would get added to the national debt of $31.4 trillion that has been building since 1789. That’s how it’s always worked and the full faith and credit of the United States allows Congress to borrow to keep the federal government running. The problem is that since Jan. 19 of this year, the U.S. Treasury has been at the legal limit of debt it can issue. The $31.4 trillion was capped 13 months ...