McCarthy unveils GOP plan to raise debt limit, reign in federal spending

by Chris Lange

Chris Lange, FISM News

 

President Biden on Wednesday rejected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s debt ceiling proposal as a “whacko” non-starter.

McCarthy’s long-awaited proposal, released yesterday, would “responsibly” raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion, set discretionary spending at FY 2022 levels, and cap spending increases at 1 percent a year, according to a House GOP press release. Proposed spending cuts outlined in the plan do not include changes to entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security. 

The House GOP further wants to repeal funding legislation for “Biden’s IRS army” and reclaim billions in unspent pandemic funds. The plan would also end the president’s student loan forgiveness program, which has cost U.S. taxpayers around $150 billion in lost interest, according to estimates included in legal challenges to the program. 

Additional savings would come in the form of Republicans’ energy plan to open up domestic production and reduce American dependence on foreign adversary nations like China.

McCarthy claims that his proposal would save taxpayers $4.5 trillion over the next 10 years. 

“After two years of out-of-control government spending by Joe Biden and extreme Democrats, the United States debt has increased to $31 trillion. That’s more than the entire U.S. economy,” the release stated.

 “This is unsustainable, and House Republicans are committed to a reasonable, responsible, and sensible solution to our nation’s debt crisis that would limit Washington’s irresponsible spending, save taxpayer dollars, and grow the American economy,” it continued.

The full text of the plan is expected to be published on Thursday.

BIDEN SLAMS GOP’S ‘MAGA ECONOMIC AGENDA’

President Biden, who was in Maryland on Wednesday, excoriated McCarthy’s proposal as a GOP threat to default on U.S. obligations “unless I agree to all these wacko notions they have.” 

“Folks, that’s the MAGA economic agenda: Spending cuts for working- and middle-class folks … with tax cuts for those at the top of the pile,” Biden told members of a local chapter of the International Union of Operating Engineers. “It’s not about fiscal discipline. It’s about cutting benefits for folks … they don’t seem to care much about,” he continued, according to an ABC News report.

McCarthy, who has accused Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) of  being “missing in action” in terms of working with Republicans on the debt ceiling crisis, slammed the president for “skipping town to deliver a speech in Maryland rather than sitting down to address the debt ceiling.” 

The speaker asserted that House Republicans are acting responsibly by trying to reign in the federal government’s out-of-control spending. At the time of this reporting, the U.S. national debt stood at more than $31.6 trillion, according to USDebtClock.org.

“If you gave your child a credit card and they kept maxing out the limit, you wouldn’t blindly raise the limit. You’d change their behavior,” McCarthy said. “The same is true with our national debt.”

The House is set to vote on the package next week. If it passes, it would likely be dead on arrival in the Senate but would give the GOP leverage in congressional negotiations.

The same day McCarthy unveiled his plan, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers released an alternative proposal to extend the debt ceiling through the end of the year. The Problem Solvers Caucus, led by Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), said that the extension would make it possible for the U.S. to pay its bills and give congressional leaders more time to negotiate a spending bill, according to an NBC News report. The plan includes a proposed fiscal commission “to review and recommend a package to stabilize long-term deficits and debt.” 

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