Letter: Debt ceiling agreement a good thing overall

The first and fourth points in Abha Bhattarai's June 1 article seemed to me the most meaningful and spoke to the positive aspects of the debit agreement deal, even if that wasn't te writer's intent.

1. The plan would do very little to balance the budget.

That's actually good. As Bill Clinton showed us by the end of his second term, in my lifetime the only successful way to balance the federal budget is by holding spending to a slightly slower growth rate than the economy in general and let the resulting tax revenue growth gradually fill in the gap. Drastic cuts can have a crushing effect on the economy (See Herbert Hoover, 1932). And while we could implement some tax increases without crimping the economy, tax increases are a political third rail. Just ain't gonna happen.

4. The rock-solid job market is likely to soften a little.

Yes, we've currently got a very strong job market with positions that are hard to fill and little inclination to encourage more immigration to fill those positions. So "a little softening is better than a crushing blow.

All in all, Biden and McCarthy did a good thing. Though, admittedly, "agreeing to keep the government functioning" is a pretty low bar.

Paul Bruno

Gurnee