Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) attempts to negotiate with the Biden administration on the debt ceiling were really “MAGA Republicans” “threatening to blow up the economy if we don’t do things exactly their way.”
Van Hollen said, “The United States has never defaulted in its history. It would create a catastrophe in the economy. So the 14th Amendment is not the preferred alternative. A lot of people predicted even if you go the route of the 14th Amendment, you go into a recession. But if you default, we are talking about a depression. We are talking about 18 million people out of work. Where talk about interest rates going up. Where talk about everything getting much more expensive for the American people. That had is what speaker Republicans and the MAGA Republicans and Donald Trump are threatening if they don’t get their way.”
He added, “We have a weak Speaker Kevin McCarthy. We saw how many rounds of those it took him to be elected speaker. He does not control his caucus. So he cannot take back a reasonable proposal to his caucus and expect it to get the votes. Especially when you have Donald Trump egging them on and saying, ‘Don’t give an inch, default, don’t give an inch.’ That is what we are facing right now. I want to emphasize he really important difference. It is not just both sides saying this or that. President Biden is not saying that he does not get his way on how we reduce the deficit that he is going to blow up the economy. The difference is Speaker McCarthy and the MAGA Republicans are threatening to blow up the economy if we don’t do things exactly their way.”
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