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THIS WEEK IN CONGRESS: As the Default Clock Ticks - Discharge Petition Status & Biden's Remarks [1]

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Date: 2023-05-19

I don’t know about you, but I find the Main Stream Media (MSM) only half listens to the President’s remarks when they report on them. They listen for newsy sound bites and focus on the gotcha questions they are preparing to ask. So I thought I would do my own analysis below.

Let me start with this Biden quote:

“I made clear that -- and I'll say it again: America is not a deadbeat nation. We pay our bills. The nation has never defaulted on its debt, and it never will.

This and similar Biden remarks should make it crystal clear to everyone that Biden is NOT going to allow the US to default, PERIOD. which in my book signals that he is prepared to use all options on the table to avoid default.

What did Biden have to say about the current “negotiations”:

This is an important distinction that the media either ignores or downplays. Biden usually means what he says and says what he means. It’s a consistent trait of his. In this case, he is saying he is not willing to negotiate spending cuts with respect to the debt ceiling, but is willing to discuss some such cuts in negotiations on the 2024 Budget. Is he trying to kill two birds with one stone? Get a debt ceiling bill and a budget bill with a few tolerable spending cuts passed at the same time and avoid a second hostage taking come September 30th when the current budget expires and the government would shut down. Seems like a real long shot to me, but it is clear that, at present, he is not going to agree to cuts now in a debt ceiling bill and let McCarthy come back and take the government hostage again in September over the expiring Federal budget.

So what did Biden have to say about his Budget and cuts:

“And I'm proud of the progress my administration has made. We've reduced the deficit in the first two years by $1.7 trillion in the first two years. And I've proposed a budget that will reduce another $3 trillion over the next decade. That includes more revenue by asking the wealthy and large corporations to begin to pay -- pay their fair share and cutting subsidies that exist in the law now to Big Oil and Big Pharma.”

Doesn’t sound like Biden is willing to give away the store in terms of cuts to his proposed budget to get a debt ceiling deal.

Here’s what Biden said about the negotiations process going forward:

“Yesterday, we all agreed that both the Speaker McCarthy and I would designate senior members that we would negotiate to give our authority to make agreements and detail on what we wanted. So we narrowed the group. We narrowed the group to meet and hammer out our differences.”

“And we're going to continue these discussions with Congressional leaders in the coming days until we reach an agreement. And I'll have more to say about that on Sunday, when I'm going to have a press conference on this issue. As it stands now, the intention is to go to the G7, be back here on Sunday, hold a press conference.”

So there you have it. Looks like we will find out Sunday as to whether or not we have a deal, and what the path forward is if we don’t.

Lastly, here are some important Biden quotes from a May 9 Press Conference:

“And avoiding default is a basic duty of the United States Congress.”

This is Biden sending a clear message to Congress and more importantly to certain House Republicans who are weighing a decision on whether to sign the Discharge Petition, that it is Congresses duty to act to prevent default. Admittedly this is a tough sell, since these Representatives know it’s unlikely that Biden will refuse to issue an Executive Order at the last minute to end the debt ceiling hostage crisis, but they have to wonder since Biden has done a good job downplaying his possible use of the 14th amendment. Still, even if Biden were to issue an Executive Order, these vulnerable Republicans know they would face attack ads that they were willing to let McCarthy shoot the hostage and plunge the nation over the default cliff.

About the 14th amendment:

“Q Mr. President, if you do — you said you’re certain you’re not going to — they’re not going to — there won’t be a default. Are you willing to take unilateral action, like invoking the 14th Amendment, to make sure that doesn’t happen?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, the question — I have been considering the 14th Amendment. And a man I have enormous respect for, Larry Tribe, who advised me for a long time, thinks that it would be legitimate. But the problem is it would have to be litigated. And in the meantime, without an extension, it would still end up in the same place.

I’ll be very blunt with you: When we get by this, I’m thinking about taking a look at — months down the road — to see whether — what the court would say about whether or not the — it does work.”

Look, Tribe and others believe Biden could issue the Executive Order and then see it litigated. I am sure Biden knows this and that he would not use it if it is the ONLY option left on the table to avoid default. But as I said above, it’s very important at this stage to keep the pressure on those Republicans who might consider signing a Discharge Petition, and that’s what I think he is trying to do here.

“I told congressional leaders that I’m prepared to begin a separate discussion about my budget and spending priorities, but not under the threat of default.” and “And I’ve said all along: Let’s discuss what we need to cut, what we need to protect, what new revenue we can raise, and how to lower the deficit to put our fiscal house in order. But in the meantime — in the meantime, we need to take the threat of default off the table.” and “And one last thing that’s very important: The Speaker is saying he’s been trying to get me to sit down with him for 97 days. Ninety-seven days ago, we did meet in my office. I said to him at the time, “I’m happy to talk. You submit your budget; I’ll set mine — submit mine. And we’ll talk about it.”

And I don’t want to get any press person — point anybody out, but I think you all remember my saying that.”

“I made it clear that we can cut spending and cut the deficit. For example, my budget cuts $200 billion in spending by strengthening Medicare’s power to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices. In addition, that’s on top of the $160 billion in budget savings we passed last year by being able to reduce the price of insulin and other drugs for those on Medicare.” and “My budget cuts wasteful spending, closes loopholes, and does one more thing: It makes the wealthiest Americans and the biggest corporations begin to start to pay some of their fair share — just some of their fair share.”

Biden went on and on about all the good things his Budget would do and all the bad things McCarthy’s proposed cuts would do. It did not sound like Biden giving up on his budgetary vision and agreeing to any of the substantial cuts McCarthy is proposing.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/19/2170164/-THIS-WEEK-IN-CONGRESS-As-the-Default-Clock-Ticks-Discharge-Petition-Status-Biden-s-Remarks

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