The Hill News

When control of Congress is split between the two parties, it is much easier to produce gridlock than advancing legislation. Campaign promises can often dissipate amidst the inability to muster enough support to push important legislation through. That is certainly the case now with a Republican House and a Democratic Senate â€" not to mention an electorally shaken President Obama.

Republicans, however, have a unique opportunity to follow through on their campaign promise of reduction in government spending and overall fiscal discipline. Congress is expected to vote soon on raising the debt ceiling beyond the current $14.3 trillion in order to allow continued government borrowing. The current debt level is about $300 billion shy of that mark.

A failure to authorize an expansion of the debt could stop government deficit spending in its tracks. But it could also lead to a default on the nation’s obligations. This could be catastrophic for the country, as recently argued by Austan Goolsbee, chairman of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers. In that respect, Mr. Goolsbee specifically decried a Republican opposition to raising the debt ceiling as playing a “game of chicken”.

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