US President Joe Biden during an event on the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 77 training center in Accokeek, Maryland, on Wednesday, April 19, 2023.
Jim Lo Scalzo | EPA | Bloomberg | Getty Images
President Joe Biden on Wednesday slammed House Republicans for flirting with defaulting on the national debt, saying America will not be “a deadbeat nation.”
He also went so far as quoting Republican former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump to emphasize the catastrophe it will cause.
“Nobody should do anything to jeopardize the complete faith and credit of the US of America,” Biden said. “Take default off the table and let’s have an actual serious, detailed conversation about learn how to grow the economy, lower costs and reduce the deficit.”
Biden called the gambit by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., “really dangerous.”
“MAGA Republicans in Congress are threatening to default on the national debt, the debt that took 230 years to build up overall, unless we do what they are saying,” Biden said. “They are saying they will default unless I comply with all these wacko notions they’ve. Default. We would be worse than totally irresponsible.”
Speaking on the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 77 in Accokeek, Maryland, he then compared the McCarthy’s plan to the words of other conservative leaders who opposed the move.
“The speaker likes to cite his hero Ronald Reagan, who I knew after I was a senator, but he doesn’t quote all the things Reagan said,” Biden said. “Reagan said debt ceiling brinkmanship threatens the holders of presidency bonds and people who depend on Social Security and veterans’ advantages. The US has a special responsibility to itself and the world to fulfill its obligation.”
Biden went on to cite his predecessor, Trump, who expressed disbelief that anyone would use the debt ceiling in political negotiations.
“I assume he didn’t know the brand new MAGA Republicans he bred,” Biden quipped. “America will not be a deadbeat nation. We meet our obligations, and I made it clear to Speaker McCarthy how we should always proceed to settle our differences.”
The president repeatedly chided McCarthy for giving speeches, like his one to Wall Street earlier this week, without offering a transparent plan to maneuver forward. Biden released his budget proposal last month and has asked House Republicans to accomplish that as well.
“MAGA Republicans owe the people the identical: Offer a plan, not speeches,” Biden said. “Offer a budget that levels to the American people exactly what you plan to do, what you are going to cut, what tax giveaways you intend to increase to the super wealthy, what it means for the deficit.”
As Biden was speaking, McCarthy announced his plan in his own speech on the House floor. McCarthy’s bill calls to lift the debt limit by $1.5 trillion, or until March 31, 2024, slash federal spending by as much as $130 billion, limit spending increases to 1% a yr and set fiscal yr 2024 spending levels at that of fiscal yr 2022. McCarthy’s office says it will end in $4.5 trillion in savings.
Speaking before the bill was released, Biden referenced a number one Republican proposal that called for a 22% cut in discretionary spending.
“Here’s the thing: Do these painful costs actually help the deficit? Do they really reduce costs? Well, the honest answer isn’t any,” the president said.
Biden said the proposed cuts would hurt Americans greater than it will help.
“Folks, that is the MAGA economic agenda: spending cuts for working and middle class folks, Americans, and tax cuts for those at the highest of the pile,” he said. “It is not about fiscal discipline, it’s about cutting advantages for folk they do not appear to care much about. It’s about finding ways to squeeze out more of America’s middle class.”
