Progressive lawmakers are furious that Joe Biden is even negotiating with Republicans over the debt ceiling, something GOPers did without protest for Trump. Via HuffPost:
“If Democrats cave to the GOP on work requirements, 1.7 million poor people could lose their healthcare and 275,000 could go hungry. That’s what is at stake. We must stand firm,” tweeted Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Thursday, referring to a key GOP demand to add stricter “work requirements” to federal programs that help low-income Americans afford food and health care.
In further sign of angst on the left, 11 Senate Democrats sent a letter to Biden on Thursday urging him to prepare to raise the debt ceiling unilaterally by invoking the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states that the public debt “shall not be questioned.” The theory behind their argument is untested and would likely be challenged in the courts, however.
“Republicans’ unwillingness to consider one penny in new revenue from the wealthy and large corporations, along with their diminishment of the disastrous consequences of default have made it seemingly impossible to enact a bipartisan budget deal at this time,” the senators wrote in the letter, questioning House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) ability to pass a deal should one emerge in the coming days.
I see citing the 14th as nothing but a positive for Biden. It projects strength against these bullies, and it throws a monkey wrench into the gears of Republican extortionists.
He seems determined not to use it. We can only wait and see whose needs get thrown under the bus.
