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Opinion | What the Insurrectionists of 2021 and 2023 Have in Common
New York TimesNov 25, 2022
The Facts
On Sunday, new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he would like to negotiate with Pres. Biden on the raising of the debt ceiling while renewing his calls to cut spending. This comes as the US Dept. of the Treasury says the government may not be able to pay its bills by the summer.
In a Fox News interview, McCarthy said, “I want to sit down with him now so there is no problem," referring to Biden. He added that there can be spending cuts without hurting key entitlement programs.
The Spin
Republican narrative
McCarthy is right that the US cannot just spend into oblivion and recklessly raise its credit limit. This country wastes so much money in ways that the American people don’t even see, and the GOP was elected to its majority on a mandate to bring fiscal responsibility back to Washington.
Democratic narrative
Republicans are using the US economy as a pawn in an extortion scheme to get whatever they want. The US is risking its reputation because the Republican Party does not care if it crashes the economy. If the GOP wants to cut public spending, it can do it the legislative way.
