On October 28th, Congress passed a bipartisan two-year budget deal to avoid another government shutdown.  

This deal was a “minor miracle” and “Boehner’s parting gift” said Mack Shelley; director of the political science department.

While Boehner contributed more to the bill, his successor Paul Ryan, wanted to avoid a government shutdown like most of congress said Shelley.

The last government shutdown “didn’t help the Republican cause” said Shelley because the parties reputation amongst Americans took a pretty big hit.

While the Republicans put more emphasis on military than domestic spending the deal was stuck with bipartisan agreement said Sheeley.  Both democrats and republicans were willing to make compromises to prevent another shutdown.

The bill is “causing some ripples” said Shelley.  The deal would increases military and domestic spending but it’s more of a “planning document.”

The bill prevents a shutdown of the government through 2017 and also raises the debt ceiling which could cause “financial turmoil” if the national debt isn’t reigned in and the entire economy could be destroyed within the next couple years if it’s left unchecked said Shelley.

David Swenson, an associate scientist in economics and Agriculture and Life Sciences said this bill is really only short-term and it “doesn’t change the status quo” on spending for the next two years.  Swenson said this bill is not aiming to alter any laws.

Swenson doesn’t believe the debt is a “great big deal”.

After the economic collapse of 2008 the economy took a hard hit and deficit spending began to rise but Swenson said “being able to go into debt is valuable”.

Swenson explains that “debt is relative to the economy” and as the economy begins to grow, debt spending begins to shrink and vice-versa.  He says that currently the debt is growing slower than the economy because we are coming out of a recession.

Swenson said paying off  or eliminating the national debt is “unrealistic” and anyone who thinks we need a balanced budget at a federal level does not “know the economy very well”.

The bill itself is being “fully funded by savings over the next few years” such as monthly charges on things like Medicare premiums and also by interest on student loans said Swenson.

Student loans and debt has been a big issue on the 2016 campaign trail and this is not a new issue said Shelley.  In 2014, Congress came close to passing a bill that would lower interest rates on student loans but it did not pass through the senate.

Shelley said candidates like Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have proposed new ways to either make tuition free or make college more affordable through student loan reform.

Shelley noted that corporations receive “debt forgiveness when they go belly up” so “why not students?”

The bill now moves to the senate where it will more than likely be passed and sent to President Obama.