That turns the case --- cuts will be to social programs

(Romina, MA and BS degrees in economics from George Mason University, Romina Boccia is director of budget and entitlement policy at the Cato Institute, where she specializes in federal spending, budget process, economic implications of rising debt, and Social Security and Medicare reform. Boccia was previously director of the Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget at the Heritage Foundation, “The Debt Limit and the High Costs of Debt,” pg online @ //um-ef)

If policymakers delay action until a fiscal crisis is on their doorstep, they could be forced in‐​between a rock and a hard place of massively cutting spending and or aggressively raising taxes. Studies reviewing the experience with European austerity measures and other measures taken by select OECD countries to stabilize their government finances indicate that the most successful deficit reduction strategies focus on spending cuts, especially to social programs and government bureaucracies. Increasing taxes was less effective at reducing deficits and more economically harmful.