June 1: that’s when the federal government has to figure out the debt ceiling, which is the limit congress has on borrowing money to pay for everything the government does.
The past few times a Congressional debt ceiling vote happened under President Trump, the debt ceiling was raised without drama or threats to destroy the economy. However, now with Democrat Joe Biden as President, and Republicans in control of the House, there is high drama and threats to destroy the economy.
Washington Post business reporter Jacob Bogage has been covering the developments. He wrote the article “Debt ceiling showdown: 5 possible outcomes.”
Representative Casar on GOP cuts
Republicans like San Antonio Congressman Chip Roy don’t want the debt ceiling raised unless there are deep cuts to social spending programs. Roy is concerned with the massive national debt.
Congressman Greg Casar, a Democrat from San Antonio, is concerned with what those spending cuts would do to families.
He tweeted “The message of House Republicans is clear: cut essential programs for working Americans or we will crash the economy. Democrats will continue to protect essential programs and raise the debt ceiling like Congress has done more than a hundred times before.”
How the cuts could impact families
Many of the proposed cuts in the Republican debt plan will hit Republican controlled states the hardest. And according to Tamika Middleton, managing director of Women’s March, the cuts will also be especially punishing for women who are struggling to maintain their families.
According to the White House the cuts will be felt by American families in a number of ways by slashing funding for schools with low-income students and students with disabilities: A 22% cut would impact 25 million students in schools that teach low-income students and 7.5 million students with disabilities, which could force a reduction of up to 108,000 teachers, aides or other key staff.
It would eliminate preschool and childcare for hundreds of thousands of children. A 22% cut would mean 200,000 children lose access to Head Start slots and another 180,000 children lose access to childcare. Thus, undermining our children’s education and making it more difficult for parents to join the workforce and contribute to our economy.
A 22% cut would mean 1.7 million women, infants, and children would lose vital nutrition assistance through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), significantly increasing child poverty and hunger.
It would take away nutrition services, such as Meals on Wheels, from more than 1 million seniors. For many of these seniors, these programs provide the only healthy meal they receive on any given day. And the cuts would eliminate funding for Housing Choice Vouchers for over 630,000 households, including 190,000 households headed by seniors and 50,000 veterans.
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