The Bipartisan Legislation to raise the National Debt Ceiling passed in the House of Representatives this evening by a vote of 314 to 117.
Democrats were the ones that provided the pivotal votes (165 of them) for victory as 71 MAGA Republicans felt it was better to default on the full faith and credit of the United States like Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis recommended rather than do a bipartisan deal with the Biden/Harris Administration and save the national and international economy.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who had more members than Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, could not round up more votes than the opposition.
To be fair, 46 Democrats in safe, mostly progressive districts, also voted against the legislation. Those Democrats should be asked how, given all the factors in play, they could have reasonably achieved better than the Biden team.
It can be safely said that a coalition of the center and reality from both parties provided the margin for victory.
In the Arizona Delegation, all the MAGA Republican members except David Schweikert (who will be in the race of his political life in 2024) voted against economic stability for the country.
Democratic Representatives Ruben Gallego (who is also a Senate candidate) and Greg Stanton, two people who will need the votes of Independents in their next campaigns, voted to raise the ceiling. Raul Grijalva, in a safe Democratic Congressional seat, chose not to.
Please click here to see how each member of the House voted.
The bill will now go to the Senate where another bipartisan coalition of the center will probably provide the margin to raise the debt ceiling and send the measure to President Biden for his signature.
Stay Tuned.
“…he has allowed his appointed HHS and CMS corporate puppets to succeed in PROFITIZING/PRIVATIZING Traditional Medicare without the consent of the seniors affected.”
This flies under the radar as far as media is concerned. And it’s huge.
Meant as reply to 1simplee June 2, 2023 at 8:11 pm.
The reason progressives did not vote for this, is because it was a disgusting piece of political theater! There was absolutely NO reason for Biden to negotiate with the GOP or anyone else in order to pay our debts. This was just another one of Biden’s scapegoating of the GOP to cover up the fact that he is just as heavily corporate-funded as the GOP politicians, and is covertly representing his corporate donors…. instead of the majority of his actual constituents… the middle/working class and poor Americans.
Joe Biden will NEVER pass anything that will significantly adversely affect his ultra-wealthy corporate donors, and he will always find some way to shift the blame for not doing so.
From the minute that Biden took office, he already possessed the right to IGNORE the UN-Constitutional demands of the GOP-led Congress. He would not even need the 14th amendment to do so. Under the ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION, the president is required to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”
This includes a budgetary law passed in 1974 and still in effect, which states that the budget sets its own debt limit, so whatever funding was agreed to in a budget, IS the debt ceiling, and MUST be paid when the debt comes due. The Constitution does NOT allow for the U.S. to default on its debts!, Biden could have simply ordered Yellen and the Federal Reserve to pay all U.S. debt already owed!
But Joe Biden has instead, CHOSEN to sacrifice our MOST VULNERABLE to the greedy GOP! This is not the first time he has been able to fool so many into thinking he has been “blocked” by the GOP. He used the same strategy to avoid the blame for not passing legislation to raise the minimum wage. Instead, he refused to either ignore the Senate parliamentarian, as has been done before by other administrations, or to replace her, which has also been done before.
On the other hand, despite a HUGE outcry from his real constituents…. outraged seniors nationwide…. he has allowed his appointed HHS and CMS corporate puppets to succeed in PROFITIZING/PRIVATIZING Traditional Medicare without the consent of the seniors affected. This has been done via the ACO-REACH program, which benefits ONLY the already hugely profitable healthcare industry at the expense of seniors’ economic, physical, and emotional health.
FAUX JOE NEEDS TO GO!!! We need a real progressive (one with a spine) to be the Democratic presidential candidate in 2024!
I encourage readers to watch today’s (Friday 06/02/23) “Democracy Now” program with host Amy Goodman to hear what Rep. Ro Khanna had to say about this.