If the country defaults on its debt, millions of people would lose their jobs, retirement accounts would be decimated, Social Security payments could be delayed, Medicare and Medicaid benefits could be affected, and military members could see paychecks delayed.
House Republicans have spent their first 100 days in power discussing plans to cut social programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and food assistance and conducting half-baked and conspiracy-fueled investigations.
Biden’s plan would increase the Medicare tax rate on Americans earning above $400,000 from 3.8% to 5% to help keep Medicare solvent into the 2050s. No one earning under $400,000 a year would pay a dime more in taxes, under Biden’s plan.
House Republicans want to apply deep cuts to everything from health insurance to food assistance benefits, an effort that would plunge millions more Americans into extreme poverty.
Biden’s blueprint includes several recently passed laws which are expected to create millions of good-paying jobs in construction, manufacturing, and other sectors.
The debt ceiling is a numerical limit, set by Congress, on how much money the federal government can borrow to pay its bills. Increasing the debt ceiling is a routine congressional task, but Republicans want to hold it hostage to make cuts to Social Security and Medicare, even though failing to raise the limit would cause massive economic devastation.
Republicans have said they want to extend the Trump tax cuts, which mostly benefited billionaires and corporations; cut spending on Social Security and Medicare; and repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, which lowered the cost of prescription drugs and raised taxes on corporations.