(C) Common Dreams
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Debt ceiling talks: Progressives are getting nervous [1]
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Date: 2023-05-17 10:22:01+00:00
President Biden and top congressional leaders sounded somewhat upbeat about their progress on debt ceiling talks after another chat at the White House on Tuesday. But some progressive lawmakers have already begun voicing concern that talks could be heading toward a compromise that would hand Republicans key policy wins.
Biden called the sit down a “good productive meeting” and promised to talk more with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the coming days. The Republican leader said the sides were still far apart with time running short before a potential default, but that he was pleased the White House had agreed to negotiate directly with House Republicans going forward, instead of trying to also involve Senate and House Democratic leaders.
“Nothing has been resolved in this negotiation,” McCarthy told reporters. “The only thing that has changed is, we finally have a format that has proven to work years in the past. Now, all the years in the past, they had more time to negotiate.” He added that it might be “possible to get a deal by the end of the week.”
But the day’s movement was accompanied by rising anxiety among some Democratic lawmakers and activists, who believe Biden risks rewarding Republicans for using the threat of a catastrophic default to hack away at the budget — and encouraging similar behavior down the road.
“Folks are worried about the direction that negotiations are headed in and in particular, the fact that the negotiations are starting to look a lot like 2011,” Lindsay Owens, an economist and executive director at the left-leaning Groundwork Collaborative, told Semafor. “Anytime you let Republicans control the terms of the debate around the debt ceiling, you're in trouble.”
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Capitol Hill progressives have been especially concerned about hints Biden may be willing to compromise on Republican demands to add new work requirements to parts of the safety net. On Sunday the president seemed to rule out adding new restrictions to Medicaid, but signaled a willingness to hear out proposals on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which provides cash support for some of the poorest households.
“We're giving credibility to the Republican Party as hostage-takers by even having these meetings and saying publicly that may indicate that we're willing to negotiate on something like SNAP benefits,” New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman told Semafor, suggesting that part of Biden’s shift may be 2024 campaign-related. “Why are we even giving credibility to a party that has not negotiated anything in good faith?”
Senate Budget Chair Sheldon Whitehouse told Semafor that new work requirements have “a cruel tinge.”
On Tuesday night, the White House reemphasized it was opposed to new work requirements on safety net programs without any drawing red lines. “The policies House Republicans are proposing would take away Americans’ health care and increase poverty,” White House spokesperson Michael Kikukawa said in a statement. “Republicans couldn’t pass them into law when they had unified control of government—and the President is fighting to ensure they will not be in a bipartisan budget agreement.”
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[1] Url:
https://www.semafor.com/article/05/16/2023/debt-ceiling-talks-progressives-nervous
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