John,

Because Congress has refused to act to lift the statutory debt limit, we’re on track to hit the debt ceiling tomorrow. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says that she can keep the plates spinning to avoid default until early June at the latest (mostly by delaying intergovernmental payments, which the media calls “Extraordinary Measures”), but after that, it will all come crashing down, likely taking the global economy with it.

I’m going to explain why this Congress is doing this now, and why this fight is so important. Then, I’m going to ask if you can chip in to fight back with us.

Today, inflation is receding and the unemployment rate remains extremely low. If the United States defaults, economists say that inflation will spike again, and we will enter a deep recession that puts 2008 to shame.

So why isn’t Congress simply holding a vote to raise the debt ceiling? Because Republicans see a chance to sabotage the Biden administration, and they want to take it.

In the eyes of the MAGA extremists who hold Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s puppet strings, if they wreck the economy, they can blame President Biden. And if President Biden bends the knee and agrees to their terms, they can achieve policy goals that Wall Street politicians have sought for nearly a century: Dismantling our Social Security system.

Just before the holiday weekend, it was reported that Kevin McCarthy had struck a secret deal to secure his Speakership, which included an “emergency plan” to breach the debt limit. Both McCarthy and Mitch McConnell’s #2 in the Senate have previously indicated that the debt limit provided leverage that they could use to enact Social Security cuts―even though Social Security cannot by law add to the deficit. This “emergency” would be entirely of their own creation.

So far, the Biden administration is standing strong and insisting that lifting the debt ceiling is a “sacred obligation,” not a bargaining chip. That’s exactly right. If Biden kneels to McCarthy’s threats now, the hostage crisis will recur, over and over again. The only way to win this game is not to play.

As we saw in the Speaker of the House fight, the extremists are in control of the Republican caucus. And just as they did during the Obama administration, the corporate media will pressure Democrats to bail out Republicans after their own self-inflicted crisis.

If Republicans believe in cutting Social Security and Medicare to secure their tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, let them take the campaign to the American people and win an election with that message, instead of back-room hostage-taking and secret deals.

Social Security Works is leading the fight to demand that Congress pay its bills, and never threaten Social Security or Medicare. Donate $7 today to hold Congress accountable!

Thanks,

Michael Phelan
Social Security Works