Chicago City Wire

“The debt ceiling dilemma invented by extremist Republicans has led us to Hobson’s Choice. We were confronted with two options — something or nothing. I have chosen something, because choosing nothing would mean choosing to default for the first time in American history. We have an idea of the irreparable damage a default would have on our country: 8 million jobs lost, diminished retirement savings, increased car payments, credit card bills, and mortgages at record highs. But even then, we cannot know just how disastrous the ramifications would be on our country and the global economy.  As Ronald Reagan said, “The full consequence of a default — or even the serious prospect of default — by the United States are impossible to predict and awesome to contemplate.”

“As difficult as this decision was to make, it was the only decision. This position we are in reminds us of several truths — the first being that elections matter. MAGA Republicans have taken control of Congress and in the process, have used the debt ceiling to hold our economy hostage. Republicans chose to gamble with the full faith and credit of the United States in pursuit of an extremist agenda to kick hundreds of thousands of families out of their homes, rip away Medicaid from millions, and slash health care for veterans. Let us not forget, Republicans raised the debt ceiling three times under Trump and 18 times under Reagan. This crisis was never about federal spending or the national debt — it was always about political games.

“This moment also serves as a reminder that as legislators, we often have to make tough choices and it is the responsibility of governing to compromise. Without compromise, we cannot move forward. President Biden and his negotiating team crafted a compromise to avoid a catastrophic default on our debts while simultaneously protecting critical priorities for our nation — Social Security, Medicare, prescription drug costs and clean energy investments. While this deal is not perfect, it is far greater than the alternative.

“We must avoid this political game from happening again — we must repeal the debt ceiling and finally bring an end to this constant, unnecessary threat to our economy.”       

Original source can be found here.