Brace yourself for a lot of conversation centered around the debt ceiling, especially after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen proclaimed on Sunday that, in her opinion (which is an important and informed one), this country would not be able to pay all of our bills by June 15 if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling.
The deadline to have the debt ceiling raised is June 1, and it’s a hard deadline, Yellen said on Meet the Press Sunday.
“And my assumption is that if the debt ceiling isn’t raised, there will be hard choices to make about what bills go unpaid.”
No shock that Joe Biden is spending most of his time pre-blaming Republicans, and when he’s not doing that, he’s been having less than fruitful meetings and negotiations with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his team. The current borrowing limit stands at an absolutely staggering $31 trillion. It has to go up in order for the government to pay its bills.
This is a negotiation — and Republicans control the House, so they will want something, and what they want are steep spending cuts by Democrats. Meanwhile, Dems and progressives want Republicans to agree on tax increases for the wealthy.
The situation is dire, Yellen said.
“I would say we are focused on raising the debt ceiling and there will be hard choices if that doesn’t occur. There can be no acceptable outcomes if the debt ceiling isn’t raised, regardless of what decisions we make.”
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