211 House Republicans vote to tank the economy

All 211 House Republicans present on Tuesday voted against a bill to suspend the debt ceiling, avert a partial government shutdown, and fund disaster relief.

Without action to address the debt limit, the nation is just days from a default that could do massive damage to the economy and cost millions of jobs.

“This is absolutely reckless. Suspending the debt limit enables Pelosi Democrats to continue their out-of-control spending spree and force their socialist agenda on the American people, all without a plan to pay for it,” claimed Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK).

The bill, which passed the House on a party-line vote, would suspend the debt ceiling until December 2022 and would keep the government running for the next 10 weeks. The move is necessary to pay for spending Congress has already approved and the interest on the more than $28.7 trillion the Treasury has borrowed to cover those costs.

While they now unanimously oppose suspension under a Democratic president, just two years ago 65 House Republicans joined 219 Democrats to pass a bipartisan bill that did just that for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term.

The latest vote came after a new report from Moody’s Analytics on Tuesday that predicted a debt default could cost the American economy up to 6 million jobs, reduce household wealth by almost $15 trillion, and raise the unemployment rate from about 5% to 9% nationally.

Other experts also say a default would be catastrophic for the economy.

Over Trump’s term in office, the United States lost a net total of about 3 million jobs, a figure worsened by the pandemic and Trump’s decisions early on in the outbreak. More than 4 million jobs have been added under President Joe Biden since his January inauguration.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where the Republican minority has vowed to filibuster the legislation to death.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell demanded Tuesday that Democrats instead address the debt ceiling on their own, through a budget reconciliation process that he is also trying to block.

“The debt ceiling will be raised as it always has. But it will be raised by the Democrats,” he told reporters.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.