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Creighton economist: with debt ceiling increase in place, Congress should focus on the budget

By Katie Knapp Schubert

Omaha, NE – A Creighton University economist says the two trillion dollars in cuts approved in the new debt ceiling law don't go far enough.

President Obama signed the measure in to law Tuesday. In addition to raising the debt ceiling, it makes spending cuts. But Creighton economist Ernie Goss says those cuts aren't in areas that'll significantly impact the national debt. "The extension of the debt ceiling really cut discretionary spending, but we really need to tackle the entitlement programs, particularly Medicare and Social Security, that has to be done. We have to curtail the growth in those programs, and in some cases even cut the growth."

Goss says with the debt ceiling law in place, Congress must now focus on passing a budget. He says the current national deficit is too high for the size of the U.S. economy.