Debt Ceiling Negotiations Won’t Touch Entitlements.
Speaker McCarthy said that the debt ceiling increase will not touch Medicare of Social Security in a surprise move. (The Hill)
“The remark comes as some House Republicans have been eyeing entitlement programs as a potential target for trimming down federal spending, after vowing to tie an increase in the debt limit to spending cuts.
Since the U.S. hit its debt ceiling last Thursday, Congress now faces a looming deadline to raise the debt limit and prevent the government from defaulting on its debt. The Treasury Department began employing “extraordinary measures” to prevent such a default, which is expected to give Congress until early June to address the issue.
However, President Biden and congressional Democrats have so far refused to negotiate on the debt ceiling, instead calling for a clean increase and teeing up a potential showdown with Republicans.”
Medicare and Social Security have been called the third rail of American politics for a long time due to the number of people that heavily rely upon these programs. Additionally, the people who depend on these entitlements tend to be elderly and vote in heavy numbers so cutting these benefits is an extraordinarily risky move for either party to embark upon. The national debt, however, is not getting any smaller and is ballooning with Social Security and Medicare responsible for a significant portion of the overspending.
