Democrats scream as McCarthy pushes for spending cuts in debt ceiling battle

By 
 January 18, 2023

Democrats in Washington have returned to a familiar routine, as they look to shame Republicans into raising the debt limit with no questions asked.

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) blasted "reckless" attempts by Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to rein in federal spending, saying they would lead to economic catastrophe.

Debt ceiling fight

It's not surprising that Biden's Democrats, who have repeatedly disparaged Republicans as traitors and domestic terrorists, have no interest in debate on a matter so fundamental as federal spending policy.

But McCarthy, who recently won the Speaker's gavel after a contentious fight with hardline fiscal conservatives in the Freedom Caucus, has said he won't allow Biden to dictate terms.

"If you had a child and you gave them a credit card and they hit the limit and you raised it again, clean increase and again and again, would you keep doing that or would you change the behavior?” he asked.

Uncompromising Dems

Biden, who pledged to "unite" the country in 2020, has completely refused to compromise as Democrats blast Republicans with the usual moral blackmail.

In a Martin Luther King Day speech, Biden called Republicans "fiscally demented" and repeated the dubious claim that he has reduced the federal deficit, a boast so shaky even CNN has disputed it.

Meanwhile, Schumer has dismissed McCarthy's push for negotiation as an act of "brinkmanship" from "MAGA Republicans."

"America pays its debts. Period. There should be no political brinkmanship with the debt limit,” Schumer said. "It’s reckless for Speaker McCarthy and MAGA Republicans to try and use the full faith and credit of the United States as a political bargaining chip.”

Dems double down on blackmail

House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) similarly fretted that America could default because of "extremist Republicans in the House," resulting in "grave consequences" for the nation and the world.

Janet Yellen, the thoroughly partisan Treasury Secretary, has amplified Biden's apocalyptic rhetoric about the dire consequences if Congress fails to promptly raise the limit on Biden's terms.

But she has conceded that the government can pay its debts through June, using so-called "extraordinary measures." That would seem to leave plenty of time for Congress to talk things out, as McCarthy noted.

"We’re six months away,” McCarthy. “Why wouldn't we sit down now and change this behavior, so that we would put ourselves on a more fiscally strong position?”

The only thing "reckless" is Biden's shameless largesse with the public purse.

" A free people [claim] their rights, as derived from the laws of nature."
Thomas Jefferson
© 2015 - 2024 Conservative Institute. All Rights Reserved.