No Bad Deals: As Default Threat Gets Closer Risks of Cuts to Essential Public Services Loom
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As House Republicans continue to face off with the White House over raising the debt ceiling, Lisa Gilbert, executive vice president of Public Citizen issued the following statement:
“The United States must not default on our debt. We also must not strike a deal that hurts regular people to avoid doing so. The stakes are simply too high to fail in either direction.
“The consequences of failing to pay our bills would be catastrophic for the American economy, erasing millions of jobs, triggering recession, devastating retirement accounts and more.
“We also must not strike a bad deal. The consequences of a Cap to federal spending that goes longer than the debt ceiling is raised are disastrous. Caps are cuts. They slash funding dramatically, weakening our ability to provide essential public services, make needed investments in our communities, and prepare for and react to emergencies -pandemics, climate change induced disasters, etc. – as a nation. Any Cap included in the deal must not extend for longer than the debt limit extension.
“The deal must also protect the Inflation Reduction Act, ensure that no poison pill policy is attached to the subsequent appropriations package, exclude any new work requirements or other poverty increasing changes, and exclude any permitting deal that would speed climate-destroying oil and gas projects.
“In this challenging moment, no one should accept a bad deal.”
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