🇺🇸 Debt to Society

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POLITICS

Debt to Society

Earlier this week, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy unveiled his plan to lift the US debt limit, while cutting the federal government's spending. In January, US officials first sounded the alarm concerning the debt limit. If it isn't raised by the summer, the US could be forced to default on its debt obligations.

Reporting from The Left: McCarthy proposes $1.5T debt limit increase in push for key vote next week (CNN)

Reporting from The Right: Top Senate Republicans coalesce around McCarthy after he unveils debt limit proposal (Fox News)

From The Flag: Speaker McCarthy has plainly said that House Republicans won't vote to raise the debt limit unless their Democratic colleagues agree to cut federal spending. But President Biden blasted the latest plan as "MAGA" and filled with "wacko notions." Here's more from both sides.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Something's Gotta Give: US Government Spending Is Unsustainable

• Most people will understandably roll their eyes at this latest debt ceiling fight, but Speaker McCarthy's requests are reasonable, given how spending has ballooned.

• President Biden routinely misrepresents himself as fiscally responsible, but McCarthy has also failed to build a consensus on spending cuts among House Republicans.

• Republicans have made a clear offer to raise the debt limit in exchange for spending cuts. But Biden refuses to even consider a compromise.

Kevin McCarthy’s Debt-Ceiling Marker Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal: "Washington is cruising toward another showdown over the federal debt ceiling, and Americans can be forgiven for turning the channel. But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy laid out the House Republican offer on Monday, and it might even succeed if the GOP can stay united. ... President Biden and Democrats in Congress ladled $6 trillion more onto the national debt in a mere two years on everything from electric car subsidies to an IRS blowout. America will spend $10.5 trillion in the next decade on interest payments alone, Mr. McCarthy noted. ... The Speaker’s requests are hardly radical. Republicans want to return the federal government to the spending levels of the bad old days in . . . fiscal 2022. They then want to cap the growth of spending at 1% annually over 10 years for domestic discretionary accounts. These are reasonable limits after the spending sprees of recent years."

Why everyone lacks credibility on the debt ceiling ‍Oliver Wiseman, Spectator World: "With the summer deadline on the fiscal cliff fast approaching, (McCarthy) vowed that 'in the coming weeks, the House will vote on a bill to lift the debt ceiling into next year,' adding that the legislation would also 'save taxpayers trillions of dollars, make us less dependent on China, and curb high inflation, all without touching Social Security or Medicare.' Biden still insists that he will not tolerate anything other than a 'clean' vote on the debt ceiling being raised. Insisting on a no-strings-attached green light to more government debt amounts to a refusal to negotiate. In this debt ceiling standoff, both sides lack credibility. ... Throughout his presidency, Biden has made claims of fiscal hawkishness that aren’t worth taking seriously. ... Meanwhile, McCarthy has yet to find a way to square his party’s stated commitment to ring-fence Social Security and Medicare, and its determination to bring runaway spending under control."

One more opinion piece from the Right: Republicans Officially Offer to Raise the Debt Ceiling Katie Pavlich, Townhall

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

McCarthy's Plan Has No Consensus, Is DOA

• Despite tough talk on reducing spending, Speaker McCarthy has been unable to achieve a consensus among Republicans as to where they want to make cuts.

• Democrats are unwilling to meet McCarthy's demands, but he seems committed to fight, in order to avoid a revolt from extremist lawmakers.

• Everything has to break right for McCarthy to succeed here, and even then Biden could invoke Section 4 of the 14th Amendment.

McCarthy Offers Tough Talk in Lieu of Actual Debt-Limit Plan Ed Kilgore, New York Magazine: "(McCarthy) has found it impossible to achieve consensus within his own caucus over a clear list of spending-cut demands. And Biden has very skillfully forced Republicans to repudiate their most unpopular positions, notably the ancient GOP desire to 'reform' (i.e., cut and privatize) Social Security and Medicare. So even as Biden and the Democrats consistently called for enactment of a clean debt-limit measure without conditions or drama, and the administration released a full budget proposal, McCarthy and his House Republicans have been unable to come up with much of anything specific, other than ruling out Social Security and Medicare cuts and bickering among themselves about defense spending. So with time beginning to run out for dealing with the debt limit, McCarthy chose to take his weak and vague position and present it as a tough-minded and specific set of demands."

Wall Street Should Tell Kevin McCarthy to Get Back to Business ‍Jonathan Bernstein, Bloomberg Opinion: "To allow the US government to continue paying its bills, Congress must pass a measure to raise the federal borrowing limit. That means Republicans and Democrats need to come to some sort of agreement. ... Democrats aren’t going to agree to McCarthy’s harsh demands. Biden has said that he wants to raise the borrowing limit without conditions. Yet McCarthy seems determined to put his energy into a probably doomed attempt to unify his dysfunctional party and shore up his standing as House speaker. McCarthy’s alternatives — rounding up a majority of Republicans for a scaled down proposal, or allowing a clean debt limit increase to pass with a handful of Republican votes, something he could do immediately — would risk a revolt by the extremists within his party who want confrontation, not compromise."

One more opinion piece from the Left: McCarthy’s Losing Game of Debt Chicken Robert Kuttner, American Prospect

FLAG THIS

Don't Raise the Debt Limit... But Don't Default Either

A recent survey suggests Americans want the federal government to curb its spending, but also indicates the majority wish to avoid defaulting on US debt obligations.

When asked about raising the amount the government can borrow — in other words, the debt limit — without providing any additional context, a slim majority opposed the increase.

When explained that this could result in the US defaulting on its debt, 7 in 10 say doing so would be unacceptable.

Republicans and Independents (including moderates and conservatives) represent the bulk of opposition to increasing the debt limit. But that same group, as well as Democrats, see their votes swing in the other direction when faced with the prospect of a default.

FLAG FINDS

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