It’s not very often that the President of the United States, the leader of a major American political party, tells its members to “talk to the hand.” But that’s what just happened.
As RedState reported earlier on Friday, the debt ceiling talks between Joe Biden and congressional Democrats and Republicans, that appeared to be moving along at a clip on Thursday, hit what amounts to a gigantic brick wall. Bonchie nailed it, starting with the headline: “Biden Drives the Country Closer to the Cliff After Debt Ceiling Talks Abruptly Shut Down.”
He wrote, before quoting the AP’s breaking story about the talks breaking down because of fundamental differences between the participants, that “unfortunately, the president suffers from a bad case of sheer, unadulterated hubris, and that’s pushing the nation closer and closer to the fiscal cliff.”
Bonchie continued:
McCarthy is not demanding massive spending despite Democrat fear-mongering over the issue. Rather, the big ask is to simply return to 2022 spending levels with a one percent annual growth cap. That would avoid having to slash major programs while putting the country on a path to possibly outgrow the current deficit. Would that be effective anytime soon in solving the problem?
Bonchie surmised that, no, it might not, given how much destruction the Biden Administration and its buddies in the Federal Reserve have caused to the U.S. economy, but it might “[stop] the bleeding.”
But here’s the problem. As I noted in a recent piece, the progressive hoard on the Democrat left flank has issued shrill demands, insisting that what Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the evil Republicans are asking for in their compromise is tantamount to murdering baby seals in cold blood (well, not really, but you get my point). So, they want the White House to simply roll over the Constitution and invoke the 14th Amendment—that is, say that debt ceiling must be raised without cutting any spending, damn the consequences to the country.
You don’t need to be told that anyone pushing this is completely unhinged, but it’s even more dangerous when it isn’t the Squad alone but a Dem leader like Hakeem Jeffries as a part of that horde.
Now, Politico reports that Joe Biden has essential told the Democrats to forget about it, when it comes to triggering the 14th Amendment:
But the White House remains resistant. It issued a subdued statement indicating it sees no reason to pull the plug on talks. And privately, its message has been even blunter.
Senior Biden officials have told progressive activists and lawmakers in recent days that they do not see the 14th Amendment — which says the “validity of the public debt” cannot be questioned — as a viable means of circumventing debt ceiling negotiations. They have argued that doing so would be risky and destabilizing, according to three people familiar with the discussions.
And while the officials said “Biden would likely have the authority to declare the debt limit unconstitutional as a last-ditch way to sidestep default,” something this drastic would lead to “a pitched legal battle, undermine global faith in U.S. creditworthiness and damage the economy.”
To try to save face with the progressives, they used some weasel wording, saying “[t]hey have not ruled it out….But it is not currently part of the plan.” Oh, gosh, to be a mosquito on the wall right now in the halls of Congress. The Dems have to be enraged by this move by the White House. The problem, though, is that Biden might actually want to win an election in 2024. It’s gotta be tough to hear it from their Party leader.