Sen. Elizabeth Warren is among the chorus of voices — like Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton — who are on record stating that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy‘s game of chicken with default and the debt limit is an egregious, anti-Democratic maneuver.
Trump, who recently changed his tune, said when he was in office that the debt limit was “never” to be used as a “negotiating wedge.” See below:
President Trump on the debt ceiling: "I said, I remember, to Sen. Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, 'Would anyone ever use that to negotiate with?' They said 'absolutely not.' That's a sacred element of our country. They can't use the debt ceiling to negotiate." pic.twitter.com/WvI6j4nqMQ
— The Hill (@thehill) July 19, 2019
Warren, excoriating McCarthy and House Republicans for using the debt ceiling as the sort of “negotiation wedge” even Trump said was off the table, warns that “Republicans have put forth a set of incredibly damaging proposals that would hurt families around the country.”
[Sen. Whitehouse of Rhode Island characterized McCarthy’s bill is “oily” — with, he claims, three-quarters of it written by the fossil fuel industry.]
Warren, a trained economist, understands the repercussions of a default and its widespread impact better than most members of Congress.
Republicans are holding the U.S. economy hostage and demanding a tornado of red tape that would strip away health care and other critical assistance from millions of families. They should stop playing games and join Democrats so the U.S. doesn't default on our bills. pic.twitter.com/2UPpVu74ie
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) May 16, 2023
The McCarthy proposals, she says, are so “unpopular that the only way Republicans could possibly pass these proposals is to threaten to derail the entire economy if they don’t get their way.”
“Congressional Republicans are ready to drive our economy off a cliff,” Warren says, “And why? To fulfill their dream of erasing America’s safety net.”
