At a speech on the New York Inventory Change Monday, Speaker Kevin McCarthy affirmed the Republican’s plan to make use of the quickly approaching debt-ceiling deadline to extract spending cuts and different coverage concessions from President Biden. Put merely, they plan on holding the American (and world) financial system hostage. But the media continues to cover this fact behind its “either side” reporting.
Herewith the three largest myths concerning the upcoming debt-ceiling disaster, adopted by the reality.
Fable #1: Each side are responsible. The New York Instances attracts a wildly false equivalence when it says: “members of each events are intent on portray the opposition as culpable for the turmoil that may consequence from a catastrophic default on the debt this summer season…”. In the meantime, CNN frames the battle as “a harmful sport of rooster,” wherein “Republicans refuse to lift the debt ceiling with none strings connected,” whereas “the White Home — effectively, they will the other excessive.” The media are even blaming Democrats for not negotiating over the debt ceiling. On NPR’s Morning Version, political correspondent Susan Davis stated, “For now, McCarthy is the one chief on the negotiating desk.”
Right here’s the reality:
The battle is being waged solely by the Republican Get together. The Democrats didn’t decide this battle. When Trump occupied the White Home, Republicans voted to extend the debt restrict 3 times with out incident. During the last quarter century, it has been raised over a dozen occasions. In fact McCarthy is the one one on the negotiating desk. The Biden administration and the Democrats will not be negotiating as a result of elevating the debt ceiling needs to be non-negotiable.
Fable #2: The battle is over controlling the nationwide debt. CNN anchor Jake Tapper advised Rep. Ro Khanna that it could be “irresponsible” for the GOP not to drive a battle over the debt ceiling, saying, “We have now these loopy deficits, loopy nationwide debt. It’s $30 trillion proper now … Isn’t it time that Congress takes this critically? In the meantime, The New York Instances says: If lawmakers have an issue with spending, the debt ceiling presents a method to protest….” And the Washington Submit quotes Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Motion Discussion board, a conservative advocacy group, arguing that “either side are dug in. They’ve proven no indicators of transferring. One thing has to vary the panorama to incentivize the White Home and Congress to maneuver.”
Extra garbage. Right here’s the reality:
The battle is being waged over paying the nation’s payments. The nationwide debt consists of obligations already incurred. It shouldn’t even be referred to as the “debt ceiling;” it should be referred to as the “deadbeat ceiling” as a result of it’s what we owe our collectors – and if we stiff them and turn out to be deadbeats, the credit score of america goes to hell. If Republicans had been severe about controlling the nationwide debt, they’d be prepared to think about tax will increase — together with repeal of the enormous Trump tax reduce that went largely to large firms and the very wealthy. However the nationwide debt isn’t on their minds.
Fable #3: In terms of the nationwide debt, each events have been fiscally irresponsible. Introducing a pair of segments, CNN anchor John Berman stated “Republicans refuse to budge on calls for and Democrats refuse to budge on negotiations.” The Washington Submit proclaimed:
“Republicans have solid forward anyway on a perception that they need to act swiftly to deal with the nationwide debt, which is predicted to succeed in roughly $50 trillion by 2033, based on projections launched earlier this yr from the nonpartisan Congressional Finances Workplace. Each events have added significantly to that imbalance, together with latest social spending packages underneath Biden and tax cuts adopted by Republicans in 2017.”
Baloney. Right here’s the reality:
For the final half century, Democratic administrations have been much more fiscally accountable than Republican ones. I used to be a part of Invoice Clinton’s administration, which balanced the federal funds after Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush had racked up file deficits. Obama cleaned up after George W. Bush’s runaway spending and tax cuts. The Trump administration added a whopping $7 trillion to the nationwide debt.
This disinformation concerning the debt ceiling isn’t being peddled simply by Fox Information or the intense rightwing media. It’s coming from the mainstream media that almost all People depend on for his or her information. If the mainstream media will get the debt ceiling flawed, how can we count on most People to get it proper?