Debt ceiling package does little to address America’s major fiscal problems

Although it’s named the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the compromise debt ceiling package that President Joe Biden signed into law this past weekend doesn’t do much to fix the nation’s enormous financial challenges.

The deal, which prevented the US from defaulting on its obligations and unleashing economic upheaval, holds non-defense discretionary spending relatively flat for the coming fiscal year after agreed-upon appropriations adjustments and allows an increase of only 1% the following fiscal year. It temporarily expands work requirements in the food stamps program and rescinds more than $21 billion in funding for the Internal Revenue Service.