The nation could be put in default on June 1 if Congress does not act to raise the debt ceiling or if President Joe Biden does not act unilaterally. Despite the tight deadline, despite there being no indication that anyone has put pen to paper to craft the legislation that will get us out of this mess, and despite the fact that the most vulnerable people are panicking about how they will survive next month, Speaker Kevin McCarthy let the Republicans leave Washington THURSDAY. They are officially out until June 5 for Memorial Day, which the rest of the nation will celebrate in a single day, May 29. They were told to be ready to come back with a day’s notice, so there you go.
Dozens of Democrats stayed on after their colleagues split…88 of them actually, possibly a house record. They used the “one-minute” portion of House speaking time to remind their colleagues of their obligation to the American people — including the veterans they are meant to honor with this long suspension — and to the Constitution. .
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries received a standing ovation for his remarks, saying, “We have never threatened to default on our debt.” They have worked with the Trump administration to avoid default on three occasions, he said, “despite the fact that in our country’s 247-year history, 25% of the national debt has accumulated over the four years of the Trump administration.”
“But yet we are days away from America not being able to pay our bills because you have made a political calculation that you will succeed in 2024 if you crush the economy,” Jeffries continued. “It’s wrong. It’s cruel. It’s not American.
Emeritus Speaker Nancy Pelosi focused on what Republicans are doing to veterans on this holiday. “This weekend, this nation will solemnly observe Memorial Day to honor our fallen heroes and their families,” Pelosi said. “Instead of honoring our veterans, shamefully, the Republicans opposite will spend the weekend working to impose suffering on our valiant veterans.” She said “Republicans have forced Americans down a dangerous path” by agreeing to their “extreme proposal, which would eliminate 30 million health care visits for our veterans and cut revenue for the Veterans Administration,” or ” would trigger a catastrophic default, which would force our nation to stiff veterans on the benefits they have earned.
The leading constitutional scholar in Congress, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, reminded Republicans that the Constitution says “the validity of the public debt must not be called into question. We pledged to every Social Security recipient in America, to Medicare and Medicaid recipients, to veterans, to bondholders in the United States, that we would pay their debts because we are fiscally, morally, politically and constitutionally bound. do.” But Donald Trump “gave the order” to default and that’s what Republicans are doing. “I want to introduce the MAGA Republicans who split today but raised the debt ceiling three time under Donald Trump, who gave us a quarter of all the debt in the United States between George Washington and Joe Biden.” Raskin continued: “I want to present to them the Constitution of the United States, the validity of the public debt does not should not be questioned.
Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, showed up at share some facts, before being silenced by the Republican presiding over the chamber who literally turned off Beatty’s microphone as she finished her remarks. “Madam President, a fact. Republicans have gone home,” Beatty said. “In fact, their side of the room is empty. In fact, they do not want to negotiate and they are holding our economy hostage to a ransom of partisan demands. In fact, they are taking Medicaid away from millions of people, laying off teachers, taking children out of day care, and ripping food assistance from our families.
Illinois Rep. Sean Casten was short and precise: McCarthy is a hypocrite. “I come to praise President McCarthy’s July 2019 release,” he said. “Where are these brave, principled souls now? The answer, Madam President, as you know, not here.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York cursed republicans who “decided to leave town” after “running up a bill” that they are now refusing to pay. “And not only that, but they’re blaming the Democrats, saying we’re spending too much. For anyone who wants to entertain this thought, I ask you to think of the last time someone said in this country that the government was doing too much for them. That their social security check was too high. That teachers are overpaid.
That’s a lot of things Republicans need to think about as they head to their Memorial Day parades and picnics, and it was eloquent about the men and women who have sacrificed everything for this country. Not that they actually go think about it, but it’s not for lack of trying on behalf of the Democrats.