John,
Each year, Republicans announce “demands” in exchange for allowing the United States to pay its bills—for the spending or tax cuts that Congress has already authorized. Under President Obama, Republicans repeatedly demanded cuts to Social Security and Medicare in exchange for their votes to increase the debt limit while refusing to vote for even a single dollar of tax increases on the wealthy or corporations.
Now, under President Biden, congressional Republicans are doing the exact same. They want to force cuts to critical programs in exchange for simply allowing the U.S. to pay its bills. Just look at this Washington Post headline:
The debt limit is the maximum amount of money that Congress lets the federal government borrow so that it can pay the bills it has already incurred—paying for Social Security and Medicare benefits, workers’ salaries, the military and veterans’ benefits, your tax refund, and every other government service. If Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling, the U.S. would be unable to pay what it owes and could default causing an economic crisis.
With Republican control of the U.S. House starting in January, Congress needs to act now to abolish the debt ceiling and not succumb to Republican hostage taking.
Take action! Tell Congress to abolish the debt ceiling now.
If Congress fails to allow the federal government to pay its bills, it would have a devastating impact on our economy. Not only would we not be able to pay Social Security payments on time, or pay the salaries of active duty military personnel or veterans’ benefits, nearly 6 million jobs would be lost and the unemployment rate would skyrocket.[1]
It didn’t used to be controversial for Congress to pay its bills. Members of both parties used to vote almost unanimously to raise the debt limit to meet our financial obligations. But now, an extremist faction within the Republican Party would rather risk American jobs and the health of our economy in order to extract cuts to critical programs such as Social Security and Medicare.
We must stop them! Tell Congress to abolish the debt ceiling this year before Republicans control the House next year.
Together, we’re working to get the U.S. economy back on track so it works for working people and not just millionaires, billionaires and big corporations.
Thank you,
Frank Clemente
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
[1] “What happens if Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling? What you need to know about the showdown between Democrats and Republicans,” CBS News, Sept. 22, 2021
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