January 30, 2023
Democrats Debate Whether President Biden Should Negotiate With President McCarthy Over Debt Limit
House lawmakers and the White House continued to spar last week over whether to include Social Security and Medicare in negotiations over the debt limit increase. President Biden has strongly fiance not to cut programs, insisting that the debt ceiling must be addressed “without conditions”.
Most Democrats are dead set against negotiating as President Biden indicates he is prepared to meet with President McCarthy (CA), arguing that any talks will only be “swallowed up” by the Republicans who will later ask for more.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (New York), for example, does not want Democrats to negotiate with House Republicans until the House GOP shows that it can actually pass legislation to raise the ceiling on Debt.
The debate comes as a bipartisan group of US lawmakers is preparing a plan to make a negotiate to change the debt ceiling from a fixed dollar amount to a percentage of national economic output, the top Republican in the Problem Solvers Caucus, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), said Sunday. Many senior advocates see the deal as an opportunity to cut Social Security and Medicare and are therefore strongly opposed.
“Seniors have lived up to their commitment by paying Social Security and Medicare over their lifetimes,” said Robert Roach, Jr., president of the Alliance. “We hope the administration will follow through on its commitment to protect and enhance these programs for the American people.
“We must not allow those promises to be broken, holding seniors hostage to heavy-handed tactics, the GOP debt limit, or backdoor approaches that lead to a similar outcome.”
