House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is playing chicken with the Biden White House on debt ceiling negotiations, presumably confident that neither Republicans nor Democrats really intend to default on the debt. (Both sides have proclaimed awareness that a default would be catastrophic for the U.S. economy.)
The certainty has emboldened McCarthy to play his hand without offering a budget of his own, but instead to propose unspecific percentage-based spending cuts as a condition for his coalition’s acquiescence on raising the debt ceiling. He accompanies this with dire tweets, as below. (McCarthy also likens the multi-trillion dollar U.S. economy to your family budget.)
If we bury our heads in the sand & ignore the debt crisis—as President Biden is doing—over the next 10 years, 17.5% of your taxes will be used just to pay interest on our national debt.
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) April 22, 2023
Not defense.
Not social programs.
Not even the debt itself.
That’s just to pay the interest. pic.twitter.com/RqWWZOBZba
So far, Biden has resisted calls to engage McCarthy in negotiations. The President will do so, he says, when McCarthy produces a budget of his own as a starting point for the negotiations. To emphasize the difference between the positions of the two sides, The White House is tweeting about what the Biden budget includes.
We have a sacred obligation to care for our veterans.
— President Biden (@POTUS) April 23, 2023
My budget honors that commitment.
MAGA Republicans in Congress proposed budget cuts to veterans programs that’d threaten veterans’ medical care, housing services, mental health care, and support for homeless veterans.
So what about what McCarthy has offered, in lieu of a budget? McCarthy’s proposal in general would mandate returning domestic and military spending to 2022 levels and capping growth at 1% annually.
Democratic Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz speaks for most Dems — however uncomfortable they are with the debt ceiling chicken game — when he says of McCarthy’s proposal: “This is not a serious piece of legislation.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is more specific, telling reporters that “MAGA House Republicans are holding the American economy hostage in order to take a hatchet to programs Americans rely on every day to make ends meet.”
That includes many programs that provide financial help to largely GOP-heavy states like South Carolina, where Rep. Nancy Mace is worried about cuts in green energy funding industries in her state rely on.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries characterized McCarthy’s failure to offer a budget of his own as an abdication of serious leadership, treating it humorously.
“I don’t know whether reasonable people would conclude that we should be negotiating against ourselves,” Jeffries said, speaking of Democrats. “That’s not a logical place to be.”
House Dems are working hard to prevent a catastrophic default that will hurt everyday Americans.
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) April 18, 2023
Extreme MAGA Republicans lack the votes to pass their irresponsible plan.
It’s time to end the right-wing drama and cleanly raise the debt ceiling.
As concerns negotiating, many prominent politicians and business people agree with Jeffries in principle. Here are five quotes from prominent people who warn against the illogical starting place of self-negotiating. That fourth name may stand out.
- “Never negotiate against yourself. If someone else wants to do that, let them.” – Marc A. Pitman
- “Don’t give away your power by negotiating against yourself. If you know your worth, you’ll never settle for less.” – Tony Gaskins
- “Never make the first offer. If you do, you are either negotiating against yourself or letting the other side take advantage of you.” – Gerald Ratner
- “The best negotiations occur when both sides are working together toward a common goal. If you are negotiating against yourself, you are working alone.” – Donald Trump
- “Never give away something for nothing. If you make a concession, make sure you get something in return. Otherwise, you are negotiating against yourself.” – Harvey Mackay
