The Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are pulling a scam again on the U.S. people and the U.S. economy, threatening to plunge us into recession and unknown destruction of global finances, unless they get to cut a multitude of programs that support the retired, the disabled, and the poor. They did it in 2011.[1] Now, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and all but four House Republicans want to try it again. Every Democrat in the U.S. House voted against H.R. 2811,[2] [3] and it passed with only a 2-vote margin, 217-215.
The great scam is that the national debt is where it is, continuing to rise, precisely because Republicans have repeatedly cut taxes on the rich![4] Even in the current legislation, they want to reduce funding for the IRS so that even fewer taxes on the rich can be collected. All but forgotten is that the national debt was actually being paid down under President Clinton.[5] But the tax cuts for the rich under Republican Presidents Reagan, G. W. Bush, and Trump have all greatly added to the national debt.[6] [7]
Just two days ago, the Republicans in the U.S. Congress rejected a dozen proposals to reduce the deficit by closing tax loopholes.[8]
Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, in a Senate Budget Committee meeting, gave an opening statement, “The Rich Get Richer, Deficits Get Bigger: How Tax Cuts for the Wealthy and Corporations Drive the National Debt;”[9] saying:
. . . the Speaker's current default threat would tip the economy into severe recession, kill nearly a million Americans jobs, and put at risk the dollar as the world's Reserve Currency; that will blow our debt and deficits through the roof, raise interest costs for everyone, and create political upheaval, particularly when regular Americans feeling the pain see rich corporate political donors paying little or no income taxes. Republicans routinely claim the tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations pay for themselves with economic growth and the benefits will trickle down to everyone else; that has never happened.
"Make no mistake: The debt is a glaring symptom of the dangerous inequality at the root of the political, cultural and social schisms now dividing America. That Republicans continue to engage in political brinksmanship over the debt – a crisis overwhelmingly of their own making – is unconscionable."[10]
What's in the Republican debt limit bill? The proposal, explained. - The Washington Post↩︎
How Republicans created – and now exploit – the debt crisis | The Hill↩︎
Economic policy of the Bill Clinton administration - Wikipedia↩︎
Tax Cuts Are Primarily Responsible for the Increasing Debt Ratio - Center for American Progress↩︎
GOP rejected White House effort to close tax loopholes in debt ceiling talks - The Washington Post↩︎
Chairman Whitehouse: GOP Fixation on Tax Cuts for Big Corporations and the Wealthy Drives Deficits - YouTube↩︎
Marik von Rennenkampff, The Hill, ibid.↩︎