(RightWing.org) – The House Speaker is trying to control the Biden administration’s addiction to spending by linking government borrowing to future cuts. That’s put him in a position where he’s taking fire from both sides — Democrats who want to keep running up the national debt and some Republicans who don’t want spending cuts ahead of next year’s elections.
House @SpeakerMcCarthy has thrown down the gauntlet at President Biden and the Democrats over the #DebtCeiling.
McCarthy’s ultimatum, and Biden’s reply, set up a case of high-wire brinksmanship that will play out in the early months of this summer. https://t.co/r8HphEmmek
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) April 25, 2023
In January, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the government had hit its $31.381 trillion borrowing limit, and she was bringing in “extraordinary measures” to make sure the government could pay its bills.
On April 23, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told Fox News he’s optimistic about getting his debt ceiling plan through the House in the next few weeks. President Biden and other Democrats want to expand the debt limit, so the administration can carry on borrowing money to fund its huge spending plans.
McCarthy thinks the federal government has been borrowing recklessly for long enough, and he wants it reined in. In exchange for allowing Biden to borrow up to $1.5 trillion more through next March, he wants guarantees the government’s remorseless growing spending will be cut back to the same level as in 2022.
Predictably, leftists are unhappy with the condition; they want what they’re calling a “clean” extension to the limit, with no restrictions on future spending, and Biden is refusing to negotiate with the House leader. McCarthy thinks that, despite having a slim five-seat majority, he can get the bill through the House — but it could run into opposition from Senate Republicans.
Sure enough, just a few days later, on April 26, the House voted 217-215 to pass the proposal. It’s now on to the Senate where it will in all likelyhood, meet with stiff opposition from both sides.
Although GOP senators also want to bring government spending under control, some are unhappy McCarthy’s bill only deals with the debt limit for one year. They’re worried the issue will just resurface next year — months before November’s vital elections when Republicans hope to regain control of the Senate. They’re also worried that spending cuts could be unpopular, pushing voters toward the Democrats. Something needs to be done about our spiraling national debt, though, and so far, McCarthy is the only one who seems to have a plan.
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