WASHINGTON (TND) — President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will meet this Wednesday to see if they can find a way to avoid defaulting on the nation’s $31.5 trillion debt. Republicans say Biden is spending too much and should discuss where to cut. Biden says he won’t negotiate.
Ahead of this meeting, McCarthy promised spending cuts would not include Social Security or Medicare.
“I want to find a reasonable and responsible way that we can lift the debt ceiling but take control of this runaway spending,” said McCarthy.
Biden’s hard “no negotiating” stance, however, is casting doubt that any solutions will be reached during the sit-down. Congressional Democrats are calling McCarthy’s plan unrealistic.
“His math doesn’t add up,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. “He’s promised that he’s going to balance the budget. He’s promised that he’s going to, in effect, secure more tax relief for special interest. You can’t do all of that without touching Social Security and Medicare.”
Critics say something has to be done about what they call Biden’s unprecedented spending spree.
“It’s a recklessly irresponsible position for President Biden to say just give him more money so he can keep spending money that we don’t have,” said Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La.
During his first two years in office, Biden added nearly $4 trillion to the national debt, outpacing former President Donald Trump’s final two years. Emergency pandemic spending was a big factor for both presidents.
The debt to GDP ratio now sits at 120%, a level not seen since the height of World War II but the White House is not showing any signs of slowing down. Portions of the president’s student loan forgiveness plan could now cost twice what the administration initially estimated, bringing the plan’s total close to a trillion dollars.
Biden is hitting the road this week to celebrate a legislative victory with its own giant price tag, the $1.7 trillion infrastructure bill.
“We talking about asserting America’s leadership and building the best economy in the world but to have the best economy in the world, you have to have the best infrastructure in the world. That’s not hyperbole. It’s a fact,” Biden said while in Baltimore Monday.
As the high-stakes battle continues over the debt limit, some remain hopeful that this week’s meeting between McCarthy and Biden will at least lay the groundwork for a path forward even if a compromise remains a ways away.
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