FIRST ON FOX: Three Washington, D.C. think tanks are calling on President Biden to drop his ‘absolutist’ stance on debt limit talks ahead of his scheduled meeting with congressional leaders on Tuesday and agree to consider spending cuts as part of of these discussions.
“The Vice President of the United States was right when he said in 2010 that ‘it is in everyone’s interest to cooperate politically’ to raise the debt ceiling. In 2011, he criticized those who “take an absolutist position: my way or no way”. It is not governing. This is no way to govern. Mr. President, you made these statements. We agree with them,” the groups wrote in a letter to Biden.
“We now call on you – we urge you – to work in good faith with members of Congress from both parties to raise the debt ceiling while improving the federal government’s fiscal outlook,” wrote Americans For Prosperity, the National Taxpayers Union and America First Policy Institute.
Biden called Tuesday’s meeting in a bid to resolve a week-long impasse over raising the government’s borrowing limit. Republicans have refused to allow more borrowing unless it’s tied to cuts totaling about $150 billion in discretionary spending, while Democrats say Congress must pass a “clean” increase in the debt cap. debt without preconditions.
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Three Washington, DC think tanks are urging President Biden to work with Republicans in the House and Senate on a bill that would cut spending and increase the government’s borrowing limit. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Tuesday’s meeting will be the first time the Speaker, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky., meet in their current roles.
“Showing up is not enough,” the three think tanks wrote to Biden. “The American people expect the guardians of public trust in Congress and the White House to seek and find common ground that continually improves the value they get from their government.”
The letter urged Biden to consider the Limit, Save, Grow Act recently passed by House Republicans, which is designed to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion or until March 2024, while reducing discretionary spending at FY2022 levels.
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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., pushed through the bill which now has the support of most GOP senators. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Think tanks point to one measure in particular — the write-off of unused COVID-19 pandemic funds — as something that should be a reasonable starting point for Biden.
“Surely the lowest fruit is to end spending on an emergency that you and both houses of Congress agree is over,” the letter reads. “The explosive growth of debt-financed spending during the pandemic has produced the highest inflation in a generation, rapid increases in interest rates, turmoil in the financial sector and a deep level of anxiety about the financial stability of the federal government. Failing to get our house in order, starting with this year’s debt limitation agreement, invites economic calamity and a shrunken America on the world stage.
He also pointed to a recent Gallup poll that shows 78% of Americans worry either “a lot” or “somewhat” about the debt limit.
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Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., and other Democrats have so far declined to talk about combining the issues of raising the debt ceiling and cutting spending. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last week that she expected the United States to run out of money to pay its current obligations as early as June 1. Biden and his fellow Democrats, however, have refused to budge from their position so far and attacked the House. The GOP plan is both extreme and impractical in the scope of its cuts.
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The letter to Biden sent on Monday warned, “If the feds embrace savings and start fixing the system, you could help break the cycle and not find yourself in this situation again.”
“We invite you to come to the table. It is certain that a consensus is possible to solve the immediate needs while making progress on the long-term challenges of our country. The clock is turning. Americans need you and your congressional counterparts to come together,” he said.