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Congress Must Cut Spending to Match Hike in Debt Ceiling ‘Dollar for Dollar,’ Heritage Foundation President Says
Fred Lucas / @FredLucasWH / February 01, 2023
“There has to be first and foremost a dollar-for-dollar correspondence to whatever dollar amount is added to the debt ceiling with spending cuts,” Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts says. Pictured: A screen shows the national debt clock in New York after the U.S. hit its debt limit and the Treasury Department started using extraordinary measures to avoid default Jan. 19. (Photo: Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Ahead of President Joe Biden’s meeting about the nation’s debt ceiling Wednesday with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., it’s clear some negotiation will be required, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts told reporters.
McCarthy’s fellow House Republicans’ metaphor is that they will be “using the debt ceiling fight today, this week, this spring, as an opportunity to put a wrench in the president’s plan to expand the government,” Roberts said Wednesday morning.
“What we’re looking for is an absolute rejection of a real misnomer, which is there is something called a ‘clean’ debt limit increase,” said Roberts, who leads the conservative think tank that is the parent organization of The Daily Signal. “There has to be first and foremost a dollar-for-dollar correspondence to whatever dollar amount is added to the debt ceiling with spending cuts.”
A poll last week found 61% of Americans favor offsetting an increase in the amount of debt with spending cuts.
The debt ceiling is the federal limit of how much the federal government is allowed to borrow. The U.S. national debt is $31.5 trillion. The government reached the debt limit of $31.4 trillion on Jan. 19.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierrehas said raising the debt ceiling is “something that should be done without conditions,” and added that the White House is “not going to be negotiating over the debt ceiling.”
Long term, Roberts said, lawmakers must look at more responsible defense spending and reforms to how much debt the Federal Reserve may incur. Heritage’s president expressed support for both McCarthy and the House’s GOP committee chairmen, while voicing disappointment in Senate Republicans.
Roberts said that the nation’s safety-net programs should be strengthened and reformed. This assertion comes as McCarthy and other Republicans have fended off unfounded allegations from Biden and fellow Democrats that the House’s new Republican majority wants to cut Social Security and Medicare. Roberts said reforms to safety-net programs will deliver stronger “21st century programs.”
No lawmaker supports a default on debt service payments, Roberts said, and he projected the chance of one at only 1% or 2%.
“We understand there are philosophical and partisan differences between the president and the speaker, but it’s good they are meeting and it reveals that even though the president has been fairly steadfast rhetorically in saying he wouldn’t negotiate, that there might be some negotiating going on,” he said.
McCarthy is doing the right thing at the moment, Roberts said, but expressed disappointment with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
“We are deeply disappointed. All of Heritage, our 700,000 supporters, are deeply disappointed in the lack of support that Leader McConnell is offering Speaker McCarthy,” Roberts said. “I can just tell you, as someone who spends as much time outside D.C. as I can, that moderate conservatives to strident conservatives—who are really driving the movement right now—they believe that is a betrayal.”
Roberts acknowledged that some may be surprised that a conservative think tank would call for more responsible spending, but stressed that’s consistent with conservatives’ strong-on-defense principles:
We care so deeply about America’s peace through strength that when we look at the fiscal situation in 2023 in contrast with the fiscal situation in 1983, I don’t see how those who are dyed-in-the-wool Reaganites can have faith in the U.S. Defense Department’s fighting a one-front war, let alone a two-front war, if there continues to be an absence of accountability on so much of the spending.
It’s important to stop spending military dollars on wrongheaded diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, but that won’t be enough, Heritage’s president said.
“We’ve got to have a hard conversation about which missiles and munitions programs … need to be in place for what I hope never happens, which seems to be an increasing likelihood with each passing month, which is some sort of confrontation with China,” Roberts said.
Answering a reporter’s question on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, he noted that Germany isn’t meeting its NATO obligations even as it criticizes the United States.
“That needs to be tied to Congress—not the president of the United States—telling NATO allies it’s time to pony up, [and] chief among them … would be our friends in Germany,” Roberts said. He added: “Heritage is going to drive really hard until we see Germans in particular forced by our Congress to pull their weight and shut their damned mouths.”
Another priority is limiting the amount of debt the Federal Reserve may accumulate, Roberts said.
“We are trying to impose handcuffs on the Federal Reserve with the amount of debt they can incur,” Roberts said. “We have to have a statutory cap on assets. Congress has to return to running the show when it comes to fiscal responsibility.”
Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email letters@DailySignal.com, and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.
March 20, 2021
Office of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Whitehouse,
I noticed you that signed a 2017 letter strongly supporting the filibuster.
Why are you thinking about abandoning that view now?
Does your change of view have anything to do with Biden now being in office?
Democrats distance themselves from previous pro-filibuster stance, citing GOP obstruction
More than half of current Senate Democrats and VP Harris signed 2017 letter supporting filibuster when GOP was in control
As progressives push hard for Democrats to eliminate the legislative filibuster after gaining control of the Senate, House and the presidency, many Democratic senators are distancing themselves from a letter they signed in 2017 backing the procedure.
Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Chris Coons, D-Del., led a letter in 2017 that asked Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to preserve the legislative filibuster. As it’s existed for decades, the filibuster requires 60 votes in order to end debate on a bill and proceed to a final vote.
“We are writing to urge you to support our efforts to preserve existing rules, practices, and traditions” on the filibuster, the letter said.
Besides Collins and Coons, 59 other senators joined on the letter. Of that group, 27 Democratic signatories still hold federal elected office. Twenty-six still hold their Senate seats, and Vice President Harris assumed her new job on Jan. 20, vacating her former California Senate seat.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., speaks as the Senate Judiciary Committee hears from legal experts on the final day of the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. Coons has softened his support for the legislative filibuster in recent years after leading an effort to protect it in 2017. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
But now, the momentum among Senate Democrats is for either full abolition of the filibuster or significantly weakening it. President Biden endorsed the latter idea Tuesday, announcing his support for a “talking filibuster.”
KAMALA HARRIS SUPPORTS CHANGE TO FILIBUSTER IN SENATE TO LIMIT MINORITY PARTY POWER
“I don’t think that you have to eliminate the filibuster, you have to do it what it used to be when I first got to the Senate back in the old days,” Biden told ABC. “You had to stand up and command the floor, you had to keep talking.”
The legislative filibuster has been a 60-vote threshold for what is called a “cloture vote” — or a vote to end debate on a bill — meaning that any 41 senators could prevent a bill from getting to a final vote. If there are not 60 votes, the bill cannot proceed.
The “talking filibuster” — as it was most recently seriously articulated by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., in 2012 — would allow 41 senators to prevent a final vote by talking incessantly, around-the-clock, on the Senate floor. But once those senators stop talking, the threshold for a cloture vote is lowered to 51.
Harris’ office confirmed to Fox News Wednesday that she is now aligned with Biden on the filibuster issue. She’d previously taken an even more hostile position to the filibuster, saying she would fully “get rid” of it “to pass a Green New Deal” at a CNN town hall in 2019.
The legislative filibuster has been a 60-vote threshold for what is called a “cloture vote” — or a vote to end debate on a bill — meaning that any 41 senators could prevent a bill from getting to a final vote. If there are not 60 votes, the bill cannot proceed.
The “talking filibuster” — as it was most recently seriously articulated by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., in 2012 — would allow 41 senators to prevent a final vote by talking incessantly, around-the-clock, on the Senate floor. But once those senators stop talking, the threshold for a cloture vote is lowered to 51.
Harris’ office confirmed to Fox News Wednesday that she is now aligned with Biden on the filibuster issue. She’d previously taken an even more hostile position to the filibuster, saying she would fully “get rid” of it “to pass a Green New Deal” at a CNN town hall in 2019.
Coons, who led the 2017 letter along with Collins, has also distanced himself from his previous stance.
Vice President Kamala Harris attends a ceremonial swearing-in for Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., as President Pro Tempore of the Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021. Harris has changed her stance on the legislative filibuster since signing a letter in 2017 backing it. (Michael Reynolds/Pool via AP) (AP)
BIDEN SUPPORTS CHANGING SENATE FILIBUSTER
“I’m going to try my hardest, first, to work across the aisle,” he said in September when asked about ending the filibuster. “Then, if, tragically, Republicans don’t change the tune or their behavior at all, I would.”
Fox News reached out to all of the other 26 Democratic signatories of the 2017 letter, and they all either distanced themselves from that position or did not respond to Fox News’ inquiry.
“Less than four years ago, when Donald Trump was President and Mitch McConnell was the Majority Leader, 61 Senators, including more than 25 Democrats, signed their names in opposition to any efforts that would curtail the filibuster,” a GOP aide told Fox News. “Other than the occupant of the White House, and the balance of power in the Senate, what’s changed?”
“I’m interested in getting results for the American people, and I hope we will find common ground to advance key priorities,” Sen. Tim Kaine. D-Va., said in a statement. “If Republicans try to use arcane rules to block us from getting results for the American people, then we’ll have a conversation at that time.”
Added Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va: “I am still hopeful that the Senate can work together in a bipartisan way to address the enormous challenges facing the country. But when it comes to fundamental issues like protecting Americans from draconian efforts attacking their constitutional right to vote, it would be a mistake to take any option off the table.”
“Senator Stabenow understands the urgency of passing important legislation, including voting rights, and thinks it warrants a discussion about the filibuster if Republicans refuse to work across the aisle,” Robyn Bryan, a spokesperson for Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said.
FILE – In this Oct. 26, 2018, file photo, Sen.Bob Casey, D-Pa., speaks to reporters in the studio of KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh. Casey has reversed his stance on the legislative filibuster since signing a 2017 letter in support of it. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
Representatives for Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., pointed to recent comments he made on MSNBC.
“Yes, absolutely,” Casey said when asked if he would support a “talking filibuster” or something similar. “Major changes to the filibuster for someone like me would not have been on the agenda even a few years ago. But the Senate does not work like it used to.”
MCCONNELL SAYS SENATE WILL BE ‘100-CAR PILEUP’ IF DEMS NUKE FILIBUSTER
“I hope any Democratic senator who’s not currently in support of changing the rules or altering them substantially, I hope they would change their minds,” Casey added.
Representatives for Sen. Angus King, I-Vt., who caucuses with Democrats, meanwhile, references a Bangor Daily News editorial that said King was completely against the filibuster in 2012 but now believes it’s helpful in stopping bad legislation. It said, however, that King is open to “modifications” similar to a talking filibuster.
The senators who did not respond to questions on their 2017 support of the filibuster were Sens. Joe Manchin. D-W.Va.; Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Michael Bennet, D-Colo.; Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.; Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii; Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; Maize Hirono, D-Hawaii; John Tester, D-Mont.; Tom Carper, D-Del.; Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.; Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.; Jack Reed, D-R-I.; Ed Markey, D-Mass.; Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; and Bob Menendez, D-N.J.
Some of these senators, however, have addressed the filibuster in other recent comments.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., on Wednesday was asked if she supported changing the filibuster threshold by CNN and said she is still opposed to the idea. “Not at this time,” Feinstein said.
Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020, during the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Hirono has changed her opinion on the legislative filibuster since signing a 2017 letter supporting it. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Sen. Maize Hirono, D-Hawaii, meanwhile said last week she is already for getting rid of the current 60-vote threshold and thinks other Democrats will sign on soon.
“If Mitch McConnell continues to be totally an obstructionist, and he wants to use the 60 votes to stymie everything that President Biden wants to do and that we Democrats want to do that will actually help people,” Hirono said, “then I think the recognition will be among the Democrats that we’re gonna need to.”
The most recent talk about either removing or significantly weakening the filibuster was spurred by comments from Manchin that appeared to indicate he would be open to a talking filibuster. He said filibustering a bill should be more “painful” for a minority.
Manchin appeared to walk back any talk of a talking filibuster on Wednesday, however.
“You know where my position is,” he said. “There’s no little bit of this and a little bit — there’s no little bit here. You either protect the Senate, you protect the institution and you protect democracy or you don’t.”
Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., both committed to supporting the current form of the filibuster earlier this year. Sinema was not in the Senate in 2017.
Senate Minority Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said their comments gave him the reassurance he needed to drop a demand that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., put filibuster protections into the Senate’s organizing resolution.
But with Manchin seeming to flake at least in the eyes of some, other Democrats are beginning to push harder for filibuster changes.
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I read this about you and your Democratic friends several years ago in the Senate:
Senate rejects ‘Cut, Cap, Balance’
By SCOTT WONG
07/22/2011 10:58 AM EDT
Updated 07/22/2011 04:25 PM EDT
The Democratic-controlled Senate voted Friday to block a Republican measure that would force Congress to pass a stringent balanced budget amendment and cap spending before increasing the debt ceiling.
The legislation, a conservative priority, never had a chance of passing, but the strictly party-line 51-46 vote to table the “Cut, Cap and Balance” bill highlighted the partisan divide in Washington over how to tackle spending and raise the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt limit.
REPUBLICANS WANT TO SLOW SPENDING NOW AND I ADMIT THAT WASN’T ALWAYS THE CASE!!!
The federal government debt is growing so much that it is endangering us because if things keep going like they are now we will not have any money left for the national defense because we are so far in debt as a nation. We have been spending so much on our welfare state through food stamps and other programs that I am worrying that many of our citizens are becoming more dependent on government and in many cases they are losing their incentive to work hard because of the welfare trap the government has put in place. Other nations in Europe have gone down this road and we see what mess this has gotten them in. People really are losing their faith in big government and they want more liberty back. It seems to me we have to get back to the founding principles that made our country great. We also need to realize that a big government will encourage waste and corruption. The scandals in our government have proved my point. In fact, the jokes you made at Ohio State about possibly auditing them are not so funny now that reality shows how the IRS was acting more like a monster out of control. Also raising taxes on the job creators is a very bad idea too. The Laffer Curve clearly demonstrates that when the tax rates are raised many individuals will move their investments to places where they will not get taxed as much.
Sincerely,
Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733 everettehatcher@gmail.com
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Carl Sagan. Credit: NASA
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