Raise the Debt Ceiling to Pay Our Bills: We Never Defaulted Before No Need to Now

No Need to Sacrifice this for Millions 

Then he stays in the Speakers Seat: His only goal

 “Freedom Caucus” presser: Our way or no way

Here we do again … raise the nation’s debt ceiling or not – default on paying the bills we already owe or not … we don’t care seems to profess this “new” GOP as in the past. 

This story here from Yahoo Life News with this headline and highlight from the article:

“Government Shutdown 2023: Will Social Security Payments Stop Now That the Debt Ceiling Has Been Reached?”

The U.S. reached its debt ceiling on January 19, 2023.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says extraordinary measures have begun to mitigate financial repercussions. But will those measures include pausing Social Security payments?

In the past, Congress has avoided this by raising the debt limit, but House Republicans say they will not support another increase unless they get spending cuts or other concessions (Re: NPR report).

Defaulting on the debt would be a first in U.S. history, and it would force officials to choose between continuing assistance, e.g., Social Security, and paying interest on the nation’s debt – that is payments on bills now due. 

The last time the U.S. reached the debt ceiling turmoil like this was in 2011. 

It took months for the economy to recover. The Treasury found that waiting to raise the limit took a toll on the economy, affecting the market, and people’s retirement savings, and such.

Flashback on that date: The Republicans gained gained control of the House in January of 2011 (a lot like now). They demanded President Obama back then negotiate over deficit reduction in exchange for an increase in the debt ceiling (the statutory maximum of money that the Treasury is is allowed to borrow). The debt ceiling had routinely been raised in the past without partisan debate or additional terms or conditions like 2011 and again.

The debt ceiling does not prescribe the amount of spending, but only ensures that the government can pay for the spending to which it has already committed itself (e.g., bills already incurred).

A GOP House payment prioritization plan would call President Biden to make only the most urgent federal payments if the debt limit is reached. That would specify that the Treasury Department continue making payments on programs such as: Social Security, Medicare, Vet benefits as well as the entire military.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), a leading conservative who helped arrange the deal, said in a text message: “We agreed to advance a debt prioritization bill through regular order by the end of the first quarter of 2023.”

The White House is relying on bipartisan support to bypass House Republican leadership and raise the debt limit. President Biden has said that he refuses to negotiate over the debt limit, and Congress must vote to raise the limit with no conditions on our nation’s bills now due payment.

________________________________________

This next article below shows just how nasty and mean-spirited the GOP’s “Freedom Caucus (their members are listed at this site)” is on this issue seen here from Talking Points Memo with this headline:

“House GOP Freedom Caucus Says it will Consider Helping Raise Debt Limit if Each and Every One of its Demands are Met”

Key points from that story: Reacting to Biden’s newly-released budget plan and continued staunch criticism from Democrats, the House Freedom Caucus released a one-page list of cuts largely to spending Congress already allotted in 2022 for 2023.

To unveil it, the far-right group held a press conference (many in the picture above) that was scant on details but heavy on grievances.

The Caucus Chairman, Scott Perry (R-PA), told reporters: “To ensure America does not default on our debts, the House Freedom Caucus is offering a responsible solution to the self-imposed crisis. Simply put, the plan is to shrink Washington and grow America.”

That “plan” already won the approval of at least one upper-chamber peer, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) who tweeted: “Finally, a return to commonsense in Washington, I fully support the House Freedom Caucus proposal.”

The Caucus’ budget plan is in essence a ransom note: The one-page opens with the vague promise that members of the House Freedom Caucus will “consider voting to raise the debt ceiling if they get the demands listed below.”

Reaction from J. W. Mason, a senior fellow at the Roosevelt Institute to TPM is blunt: “To the extent that this is posturing for their own base, its fine — but to the extent that it’s read as a real set of demands that the administration has to move towards, it’s really dangerous.”

House Republicans have warned for months that they will hold the debt limit hostage and let the government default on its debt unless they get the budget cuts they want — not just concessions from Biden’s future budget, but changes to spending the last Congress already agreed on.

That still remains unclear whether or not the Freedom Caucus announcement was the beginning of a Republican offer on what it would take to release the debt ceiling hostage, or a single GOP faction planting its flag. 

My 2 Cents: This argument is so-GOP centered that it is predicable on an annual basis. Their routine tactic is to keep demanding cuts to “spending” to reduce the debt all the while they fork or billions to the upper crust in tax cuts like they did in 2017 under what Trump demanded they do. Raising the debt ceiling is not new spending, it's just paying the bills are are due.

It is NOT the same as giving a huge tax break which benefits the ultra-rich while hampering and harming millions of regular Americans who  rely on SS and Medicare on a monthly basis and who worked all their lives contributing to SS. 

This “new” GOP wants to withhold their SS, Medicare, and Vet benefits for more selfish GOP partisan reasons.

President Biden is right to now allow that. Good for him. Wake up GOP citizens and tell your Republicans now in control of the House with this lousy deal: “Hell no.”

And especially tell that to the so-called GOP House “Freedom Caucus.” They are worse of the worst in my view and that is based on their leader Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) and his trove of woes to date. Check him out here from the York (PA) Dispatch. A sad character for sure.

Thanks for stopping.