If Democrats don't back down in the debt limit negotiations, Louisiana's most vulnerable residents will suffer. The Biden White House has estimated that approximately 17,000 elderly residents in Louisiana would lose food stamps, and another 12,800 families would lose rental assistance. Furthermore, over 111,000 of the state's veterans would lose access to outpatient doctor visits, and five Air Traffic Control towers would close, leaving the state's public schools $86 million short.
The Biden administration's proposal is to cut federal spending by $4.8 trillion over the next decade, which will have disastrous real-world implications if implemented. If Biden were to back that plan, which is unlikely, Republicans would agree to raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion through March 2024.
The White House released these alarming figures a day before GOP leaders were scheduled to meet with President Biden to discuss the debt limit crisis. If Congress fails to raise the amount of money the Treasury Department can borrow, the nation will default on its debt for the first time in history, plunging the world into recession.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has said that the GOP bill is more about getting President Joe Biden to negotiate. Republicans believe that spending, inflation, interest rates, and debt are all linked and that raising the debt ceiling without conditions is a non-starter. The GOP bill would also leave Internal Revenue Service vacancies unfilled, eliminate some clean energy tax credits, negate the loan forgiveness program for college students, and require more work from Medicaid recipients, among other unspecified spending cuts. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise pushed back on Tuesday against the idea that Republicans were out to cut major programs. Even if President Biden tries to cut veterans' benefits as part of a debt ceiling agreement, as Majority Leader, he won't bring that bill to the House floor, Scalise said.
Congress works to prevent default often, but Democrats are risking the economic stability of the nation with their refusal to negotiate on spending cuts. Republicans want to work together with Democrats to reach a compromise that works for all Americans. Future generations are depending on it.