At Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Joe Biden performed a piece of political jujitsu: He got Republicans to actually take a position on the looming debt limit showdown. Sort of. Rather than identify what spending cuts the GOP wants in return for not letting the country default on its debt, they affirmed what’s off the table.
About halfway through his remarks, Biden accused “some Republicans” of wanting to use the threat of debt as leverage to cut Social Security and Medicare. GOP members of Congress quickly rose in denunciation, jeering the president. “We all apparently agree,” Biden joked, “Social Security and Medicare is off the books now.” Republicans applauded.
With Republicans still refusing to specify what they want to see cut, it’s becoming worryingly clear that no deal is possible.
But if the nation’s two biggest social insurance programs — which make up more than one-third of the federal budget — are no longer at risk, where will Republicans trim the deficit, which they suddenly think is the No. 1 issue affecting the country?
Defense spending? Not so fast, say many Republican congressmen. With just a five-seat majority in the House, if even a handful of members are not on board with taking the ax to the Pentagon, it’s hard to see how it happens.
Raising taxes? I kid, I kid.
Nonmilitary discretionary spending? That’s probably the most likely target for Republicans, but not only are things like Pell Grants, K-12 education and the National Institute of Health popular, it won’t get Republicans anywhere close to the kind of major spending reforms they keep saying America needs.
With Republicans still refusing to specify what they want to see cut, it’s becoming worryingly clear that no deal is possible. Quite simply, the GOP doesn’t appear to actually want anything identifiable in return for taking the debt limit hostage.
How can the hostage-taking be resolved if the only thing Republicans agree on is taking the…
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