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Conservatives War on America Continues [1]

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Date: 2023-05-26

Negotiations between Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) and the White House have been progressing steadily over the last few weeks. However, when it comes to Republicans, optimism is the last emotion you should ever have. Whereas Pres. Bill Clnton left office with a surplus, Pres. Barack Obama cut the enormous debt Pres. George W. Bush left by half, and Pres. Joe Biden reduced the deficit by $1 trillion, Republicans have done nothing but explode the deficit. Yet, Republicans constantly tout themselves as the party of fiscal responsibility. In fact, some extreme conservatives argue that they will block any deal on the debt ceiling. Given the party’s history of ruining the country’s balance sheet, we should be worried.

What is the Debt Ceiling Limit?

The debt ceiling limit was created by Congress in 1917. What it does is set a limit for how much outstanding federal debt the government can assume. At present, the national debt is $31.4 trillion. Since 2001, the government has been able to run a yearly deficit of nearly $1 trillion. In other words, the government spends more than it earns by about a trillion dollars a year. In 2022, the deficit was $1.38 trillion.

Traditionally, when the Treasury Dept. has not been able to pay all its obligations, Congress has quickly increased the debt limit, and usually, has done so unanimously. Since 1960, the debt ceiling limit has been raised seventy-eight times, forty-nine times under Republican presidents, and twenty-nine times under Democratic presidents.

The Conservative War on America

On the face of it, it seems logical that the government should not spend more than it earns. However, as economists such as Stephanie Kelton , have discussed, the government does not operate by the same logic as households and businesses. Now, let this sink if, if America does not get a debt ceiling deal done, we will not be able to pay our bills, and that will hurt our international standing, raise borrowing costs for everyone in the country, and lead most of us deeper into financial struggles. Yet, speaking for these extreme conservatives, Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) has said they are “concerned about rumors”. What they want is for the president to make even more concessions before they are ready to agree to anything. They are negotiating over the fate of ordinary Americans.

Good argues that any deal will be bad for “the majority of Republicans”. Not America, Republicans. He isn’t concerned about your borrowing costs going up. What Republicans are interested in is getting what they want done, and that is forcing the White House to agree to its debt limit bill in April. That bill earned the support of Republicans, who argued, despite their history of blowing up the national debt, that they were concerned about government spending, and wanted to boost revenues. In practice, what that means is reducing spending on service member pay, grants for schools serving low-income students, cancer research and research on other life-threatening diseases, and rental support to house millions of poor and disabled. The bill also proposes rescinding any remaining Covid-19 relief money, reducing spending by $30 billion a year for the next decade. It means reducing funding for the Internal Revenue Service, despite the Congressional Budget Office saying that this would actually increase the deficit by $120 billion over the next decade. It means killing Pres. Biden’s student debt relief program. It means repealing tax-breaks for renewables. And it means raising the requirements for workers to get federal cash and food assistance. This is their vision for America. Conservatives have declared war on America and they want to force Pres. Biden to accept a bill that will push ordinary Americans deeper into financial struggle, and hurt our ability to transition to a green economy.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/26/2171646/-Conservatives-War-on-America-Continues

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