(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Truth About the "Limit, Grow, Save Act" [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-27 “The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest.” ~ Thomas Jefferson - Founding Father and third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. April 27, 2023 Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy 2468 Rayburn House Office Building - Washington, DC 20515 Phone: 202-225-2915 – FAX: 202-225-2908 Speaker McCarthy; Your support for the “Limit, Save, Grow Act,” which you and your GOP colleagues know very well has no chance of becoming law, reveals your “political concerns” versus your “people concerns.” Your Political Concerns: This bill is a desperate attempt by the GOP House majority to “own the libs” and discourage voters from returning House and Senate majorities to Democrats in 2024. The bill “temporarily” raises the debt ceiling, something Republicans cheerfully did three times while the last administration cavalierly increased the public debt by 25% of the total national debt incurred over more than two centuries. And, ill-advisedly, it foretells the launch of another debt ceiling fight just months before the November 2024 election. The joint statement, “We must address record spending now,” by House leaders Scalise, Emmer, Stefanik, and Arrington is transparently deceiving for two reasons: Republicans had multiple opportunities during the last administration to “address record spending” but weren’t brave enough to do so The appropriate time for Republicans to “address record spending” is not now, with a callous attempt to extort budget cuts from Democrats by threatening to tank the U.S. economy. The time to cut spending is during annual budget negotiations, presuming the GOP House majority has the political courage to reveal a specific line-by-line budget proposal Your People Concerns: The bill would: Impose tougher work requirements on Americans dependent on general cash assistance, food stamps, and Medicaid even though more than half of adults who receive these benefits are already working full or part-time or are caregivers, disabled, or students Rescind President Biden’s executive action to provide debt relief for millions of college students. Student loan debt has become a national crisis, reaching $1.7 trillion and affecting 45 million borrowers, households, and families. The cancellation of portions of student loans will close gender and racial wealth gaps, boost GDP by billions of dollars, and add up to 1.5 million new jobs Roll back climate change protections incorporated in the bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act by repealing tax breaks that boost clean energy production and consumption by incentivizing hundreds of billions of dollars in private-sector investments while creating thousands of good-paying manufacturing jobs Increase deficits by more than $120 billion, according to the CBO; by rescinding $71 billion Congress has authorized to enable the IRS to hire more auditors, administrators, office personnel, and IT staff to improve customer service and audit wealthy tax cheaters to increase Treasury revenues by more than $200 billion Cut discretionary spending already approved by Congress, which would: Cancel access for more than a million seniors to Meals on Wheels Cost 108,000 teachers and classroom aides their jobs Cut service member pay Eliminate seven thousand rail safety inspections, despite GOP criticisms of the Biden administration after the Norfolk Southern train derailment in Ohio Eliminate thirty million V.A. outpatient visits and abolish 81,000 VA jobs Guarantee one hundred and eighty thousand children would no longer benefit from childcare Make it easier for the gas and oil industry to increase profitability by circumventing environmental permitting requirements Prevent nearly two million women and children from accessing the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program Reduce funding for cancer research Remove more than half a million low-income families from eligibility for housing vouchers Remove two hundred thousand children from Head Start As you know, raising or suspending the debt ceiling simply allows the federal government to pay existing bills incurred by Congress. Yet, for no other reason than to make political points, you and your Republican colleagues are willing to threaten to force a default that would dry up capital, increase interest rates for businesses and consumers, throw millions out of work, stop Social Security payments to military families and seniors, and upend domestic and international financial markets. You House Republicans have proven once again that politics are far more important than the American people who pay for your lives of power, privilege, and wealth. Feeling any shame today, Mr. Speaker? Hoping for but not expecting a response, Davy Z Jones P.S. Dear readers . . . if you’d like to express yourself on the “Limit, Save, Grow Act,” please click on https://www.congress.gov/contact-us and let your representative and senators know your thoughts. After all, they should want to know, shouldn’t they? 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