The federal debt limit crisis was already looming when the Democrats lost their House majority in the midterm elections. Many of them called for the limit to be raised, suspended or eliminated during the lame duck period to avoid the political turmoil that’s going on now. One listener called in to ask why they didn’t raise the ceiling while they had the chance. We’ll get into it and answer more of your questions about a Plan B for Biden’s student debt relief, the Trump tax cuts and the rise of white-collar unions. Plus, did you catch the Kai Ryssdal reference on another popular public radio program?

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• • “Q&A: Everything You Should Know About the Debt Ceiling” from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

• • “Leaders Back Away From Raising Debt Ceiling, Punting Clash to New Congress” from The New York Times

• • “Raising debt ceiling wasn’t always a heated source of debate” from NPR

• • “Biden’s student-loan forgiveness might not be doomed if the Supreme Court strikes it down — he could take another legal path” from Business Insider

• • “The Booming Economy, Not The 2017 Tax Act, Is Fueling Corporate Tax Receipts” from the Tax Policy Center

• • 2022 was tech’s biggest year yet for labor unions and workplace organizing from Axios

• • “The unionization bug bites Congress” from Marketplace

• • “The Professional and Technical Workforce: By the Numbers” from the AFL-CIO

• • “This is not your grandpa’s union” from Make Me Smart

• • “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” from NPR featuring a Kai Ryssdal name drop

Got a question for our hosts? Email us at makemesmart@marketplace.org. Or leave us a voice message at 508 U-B-SMART, or 508-827-6278.