Congress OKs Debt Ceiling Increase, Residents React

UPDATE: As requested by State Representative Sue Allen, some of her comments were updated in this article for clarification at 5:45 p.m., Tuesday. The updated version of this story is below.

CORRECTION: The following sentence was corrected to reflect the fact that the debt ceiling deal was not proposed by President Obama:

Manchester resident Jerome Meyer said the only way people would notice a financial breakdown in the country would be if the debt-ceiling package proposed by Obama wouldn’t have passed.

The corrected version is now reflected in the following story.

After weeks of political scrambling, the U.S. Congress passed a bill that allows the raising of the federal debt ceiling and narrowly averts an unprecedented national default.

Monday, the House approved the proposed debt deal. Tuesday, the Senate approved the last-minute compromise plan to raise the nation's debt ceiling. The Senate approved the legislation by a 74-26 vote.

The plan will impose sweeping new spending cuts.

According to MarketWatch and USA Today, the deal would allow the $14.3 trillion current limit of the national debt to increase by $2.4 trillion in two stages, as well as $917 billion in spending cuts. 

Town and Country-Manchester Patch spoke with residents who shared their thoughts on the debt ceiling increase. Most felt it was more about politics than solving a problem.

Manchester resident Jerome Meyer said the only way people would notice a financial breakdown in the country would be if the debt-ceiling deal wouldn’t have passed.

“A couple of weeks from now people are going to forget all of this,” Meyer said. “I don’t know why Republicans made it (debt ceiling) an issue.”

Manchester resident Robert Lopez said people will start seeing themselves affected by the implications of the financial cuts after a couple of months.

“It won’t be felt overnight,” Lopez said. “It will take time."

Though Meyer said he doesn’t exactly know what motivated Republicans to make a big deal about raising the debt ceiling, he believed they had an agenda.

“The debt ceiling wasn’t an issue three weeks ago, unless you read the newspapers,” Meyer said. “I don’t know exactly what the Republicans’ agenda is, but I feel they have an underlying motive to make an issue about the budget.”  

Town and Country resident and Republican State Rep. Sue Allen said she believes the debt ceiling issue is not new. Both Republicans and Democrats started talking about the nation's debt months ago.

"I disagree that the debt ceiling wasn't a factor three weeks ago. I think we've known that something was going to happen for the last six months," Allen tells Patch. "We've known this was going to happen, that this could default."

Allen doesn't believe the blame is on one party or the other as far as getting so close to default.

“Both parties have spent more than they could or should; however, no administration has spent more than Obama’s,” Allen said.

Allen said she is indifferent about the agreement being reached in Congress because she’s still concerned about the implications of raising the debt ceiling and the federal budget without, what she feels, is an approriate cut in spending.

Allen, who has two sons and four grandchildren, tells Patch she is worried about the federal cuts affecting their quality of life and freedom.

“It looks like this commission should look at the appropriate cuts that should be made, especially on defense, which to me are the last cuts that should be made,” Allen said. “Everyone will be affected by this situation.”

Allen also said she is concerned with the country's current fiscal accountability due to the crisis.

Lopez agreed that the country's fiscal accountability was weakened. He said lawmakers and congressmen help weaken the country's position.

"We are not in a strong position," Lopez said.

Lopez believes that everyone in the country will be affected by the implications of the debt-ceiling increase.

"Personally, things are going to get more expensive for me," Lopez said. "Wages are not going to grow, and lately we haven’t gotten cost of living in our paychecks." 

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