Garamendi Encourages President to Pursue "Constitutional Option" Failsafe on Debt Limit if Republican Fringe Continues to Hold Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid Hostage
July 26, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC – With devastating and needless cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and student aid apparently on the table in debt limit negotiations, Congressman John Garamendi (D-Walnut Creek, CA) today encouraged President Obama to follow the "Constitutional option" as a fail-safe in order to prevent an economic calamity if a reasonable compromise cannot be reached with the increasingly radicalized Republican Party. Congressman Garamendi joins President Bill Clinton, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in identifying the 14th Amendment as a possible solution to the current impasse.
Congressman Garamendi issued the following statement:
"I support the ongoing negotiations to use the legislative process to raise the debt limit and responsibly reduce the deficit. However, If Congressional Republicans insist on gutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and student aid as an absolutist precondition to raising the debt limit, then I encourage the President to simply pursue the Constitutional option failsafe already available to him.
The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution clearly states that 'the validity of the public debt of the United States […] shall not be questioned.' Let's stop questioning it then. A functional country always pays its debts, and the Constitution mandates it. The President is obligated to uphold the Constitution.
"I'm all for genuinely faithful negotiations, but that's not what is happening here. I don't take kindly to hostage taking – especially when the hostages are the full faith and credit of the United States and every American who hopes to retire with dignity.
"My preferred solution is a balanced compromise that includes smart revenues and targeted cuts, but with the radical fringe of the Republican Party now firmly in control, this option is fading by the day. Their zeal is putting our country on a path toward reckless default for no good reason, potentially precipitating a recession, hundreds of thousands of lost jobs, and hyperinflation. It's very difficult to negotiate with glassy-eyed ideologues that came to Congress with a pledge to create a United States government small enough to drown in a bathtub.
"I do not believe it is reasonable to expect Democrats in Congress to vote for tens of billions of dollars in cuts from the foundational social services that prevent millions of seniors from falling into absolute destitution in exchange for a deal. This should be a routine vote to stop an easily preventable manufactured financial crisis. I’m willing to have a debate with Congressional Republicans on destroying or preserving the institutions that have created America's middle class but not under the shadow of a looming politician-made catastrophe."
For more than half of elderly beneficiaries, Social Security provides the majority of their cash income. For more than a quarter of seniors, it provides nearly all their income. For 15% of elderly beneficiaries, Social Security is the sole source of retirement income. In 2010, the average benefit was $14,000 a year.
Nearly 50 million seniors and individuals with disabilities rely on Medicare for their health coverage. The Republican budget passed in the House and authored by Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan replaces Medicare with a privatized voucher system not adjusted for ballooning private health care costs. It would more than double seniors' health care costs, forcing them to pay over $6,000 more each year starting in 2022.
Medicaid/MediCal provides health coverage for more than 58 million Americans. In addition, two-thirds of Medicaid spending supports seniors and people with disabilities, even though they compromise only a quarter of Medicaid's members.
Default would have grave consequences for American families. Default would mean:
• Over $1,000: Increase in mortgage payments for the average family
• $250: Increase in credit card interest for the average family
• $318: Additional amount families could pay per year on food
• $100: Additional amount families could pay per year on gas
• $182: Additional amount families could pay per year on utilities
Meanwhile, in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, ending subsidies for Big Oil, repealing the Bush tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, ending tax loopholes that reward companies for shipping jobs overseas, allowing Medicare and Medicaid to negotiate drug prices, and accelerating our drawdown from Afghanistan are still off the table. These options, according to Garamendi, are where pursuing a balanced budget should begin.
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