‘How Many Votes Are You Going To Have?’: McCarthy Ought To Be Pressed in Debt Talks
Democrats should not be the only ones feeling heat in debt-ceiling talks, commentators say
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been public about his “red lines” he's insisting on in the ongoing talks over raising the federal debt ceiling.
But Democrats ought also to press McCarthy over just how many of his Republican colleagues he will have to vote for a final debt-limit increase, political commentators said.
Republicans and Democrats’ talks are on a very serious clock as the federal government races towards that so-called “x date” of June 1 when it will no longer be able to pay its bills and fall into default.
Although Congress has approved an increase in the government's debt limit dozens of times under presidents of both parties in past decades, McCarthy and other House Republicans want to hold such an increase hostage to President Biden and Democrats agreeing to a raft of draconian cuts in federal spending.
McCarthy has declared that certain provisions — such as more-onerous work requirements for federal food and healthcare assistance programs — are “red lines” upon which he is insisting must be part of the final outcome.
But Democrats should be equally pressing McCarthy on how many lawmakers in his slim Republican majority ultimately will vote for these measures, especially because these assistance programs which McCarthy is targeting — such a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) — already have work requirements, political commentators said.
“First of all, this is really weird because no one is talking about the fact that for all the food programs that are currently in existence, both TANF and SNAP, which are the two programs people can get assistance buying food, they already have work requirements. They’re already there,” former Democratic senator Claire McCaskill said Friday. “So all McCarthy is asking for, which is so irresponsible, he is ready to blow up the economy over moving the age from 50 to 55. That’s what they’re asking for. They’re asking that the exact requirements that are there now just be moved up five years.
“Now, I get it, that that’s a bad thing to happen, but certainly you see there could be some room for negotiation. I don’t understand why the Democrats aren’t pushing back and saying, ‘Hey, we already have work requirements on food programs,’” added McCaskill, a one-time lawmaker from Missouri who is now a political commentator on MSNBC. “And on Medicaid, over 80 percent of the people on Medicaid are working, disabled, caring for someone or going to school. There’s only 7 percent of the people on Medicaid right now that aren’t in one of those activities.
“By the way, that 7 percent would only save, like, $11 billion over 10 years. Compare that to the Republican Trump tax deal for wealthy people that was $3.5 trillion,” she said, referring to the tax cuts Republicans approved when Donald Trump was president. “So, really, what McCarthy is doing is performance politics around this work requirement. He is not going to accomplish, really, anything.”
But even as McCarthy is insisting on these draconian measures, Democrats should be asking, “How many Democratic votes will McCarthy need?” McCaskill said.
“He’s not going to get everybody. If I was in that negotiating room, and I’m sure people that are in that negotiating room are going, ‘Okay, if we agree to anything, Kevin McCarthy, how many votes are you going to have? How many of our voters are you going to need? How many Democratic votes are you going to need to get this across the line in the House?’” she said. “No deal should be cut until you know how many votes McCarthy can deliver. I don’t even know that he’s done a hard count.”
Washington Post columnist Gene Robinson agreed with McCaskill, speaking on Friday's Morning Joe on MSNBC, adding that Republicans appear disingenuous about federal spending when they pushed through such huge tax cuts for the well-off during the Trump administration.
“Yeah, the shock that spending is going on here in Washington, you know, after spending like drunken sailors. You know, we should not be surprised, but we should remind everybody that the cruelty here, the cruelty is not a bug, it’s a feature. It’s the whole point right now of what the Republicans are demanding is the cruelty,” Robinson said. “It’s not saving money. It’s being performatively cruel to people they can demonize, that’s what they’ve always done. That’s what they’re doing now.
“But that question that Claire keeps asking is absolutely the right question. Kevin McCarthy could need 20, 30, 40 Democratic votes to get it through the House. It is unclear to me that we are as close as they say we are to getting this done,” he added. “Because [House Democratic Leader] Hakeem Jeffries is then going to have to sell these cruel and unnecessary cuts to his caucus or to enough members of his caucus to actually pass this thing.
“So there’s a balance that has to be struck here, and Claire is right. I don’t see how there can be a negotiation without some idea of what that number is. Because it could be a pretty big number,” Robinson said.
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