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Government hits Spending Cap, Michigan Lawmakers Say Default Could Impact Northern Michigan

Members of congress are hoping to prevent a default, something both federal and state lawmakers say could have a big impact on Northern Michigan.

The federal government has hit its spending limit as the Treasury Department has begun taking ‘extraordinary measures’ to prevent the government from defaulting on its bills. A political science professor at Northwestern Michigan College, John Zachman, says the large senior population in Northern Michigan could be impacted greatly if the government defaults.

“If there is some possibility that you were to see things like social security benefits affected by this then that’s obviously going to hurt many of our citizens in Northern Michigan,” Zachman explains.

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Congress now has six months to figure out what they’re doing with the debt ceiling before the government defaults. State Senator, John Damoose, says he doesn’t want the country to default, but says Democrats need to be more responsible with spending.

“I think its time we start taking spending seriously. We have to have a plan to slow this debt ceiling down. We might need to agree on raising the debt ceiling, but this has come a ridiculous cycle where every couple years we’ll raise it again and again,” Senator Damoose states.

While Senator Debbie Stabenow points out that a third of the debt was incurred under former President Donald Trump.

“We’re talking about over $7 trillion that was incurred in debt during those four years. And I think it’s very hypocritical to come back now saying that they’re not willing to pay our bill,” Senator Stabenow claims.

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Senator Stabenow says she’s worried Republicans could make cuts to agriculture, and Senator Gary Peters says while we need to bring down the deficit, not raising the debt ceiling could be catastrophic.

“If you can’t raise the money that means folks that are on social security might not see a social security check, that would be devastating to so many of our seniors who count on that check to come through on a timely basis,” Senator Peters admits.

Congress now has until June to raise the debt ceiling. If not, it could send shockwaves that will be felt across the country.

“Anything that increases instability is going to be damaging and so we will feel the economic impact here in northern Michigan just like in other places across this country,” Zachman says.

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