Garamendi Votes Against Ideologically Extreme Republican Bill that Brings America Closer to Default while Destroying Medicare
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman John Garamendi (D-Walnut Creek, CA), today voted against one of the most ideologically extreme pieces of legislation ever introduced in Congress – legislation that brings America dangerously closer to defaulting on its obligations. H. R. 2560 seriously threatens the ability of the federal government to honor the full faith and credit of the United States by requiring Congressional passage of a so-called “Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment” as a prerequisite to raising the debt ceiling, even though we are only weeks away from reaching the debt limit.
"I’ve been in public service since the 1970s, and I’ve seen some really bad bills, but H.R. 2560 is probably the most radical legislation I have ever seen introduced with the support of a party’s leadership," said Congressman Garamendi, who previously served as California’s State Senate Majority Leader. "This legislation is designed to create an easily preventable and Republican-orchestrated crisis with the debt limit – taking the full faith and credit of the United States hostage – as an excuse to destroy Medicare, Medicaid, WIC, food safety, and every federal service that helps strengthen seniors, students, and the middle class."
H.R. 2560 creates a false choice between the federal government defaulting on its obligations now or ending the government’s commitment to protecting Medicare, Medicaid/MediCal, Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food program, financial aid, and energy and transportation investments. The radical Republican legislation also makes it essentially impossible for the federal government to ever raise revenues, even to close loopholes or reduce oil subsidies.
"This bill requires a two-thirds supermajority in both the House and Senate to ever increase revenues, making it much easier to destroy Medicare than to end subsidies for Big Oil. Giving one-third of the legislature veto power over the treasury has paralyzed California, and now Republicans want to spread the damage nationally," added Garamendi. "This undemocratic and inflexibly dogmatic posture by the Republican leadership in Congress would be comical if the consequences weren’t so catastrophic. In a few months, this job-killing bill would eliminate 700,000 American jobs at a time when almost one-in-ten Americans are out of work through no fault of their own."
The only budget that comes close to meeting the requirements of the constitutional amendments under consideration in this legislation is the Republican Study Committee budget. That plan would eliminate 70 percent of non-defense discretionary funding by 2021, contain deeper Medicare cuts than the budget authored by Republican Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, and eviscerate Medicaid/MediCal. It also would slash food assistance and Supplemental Security Income for the elderly and disabled poor in half by the end of the decade while raising the Social Security retirement age to 70.
H.R. 2560 requires that both the House and Senate must pass a radical GOP constitutional amendment and send it to the states for ratification before the debt limit can be raised. Since passage will never happen, these provisions recklessly bring the country closer to default. Defaulting on U.S. debt would destroy hundreds of thousands of dollars, add nearly $20,000 to the average mortgage, cause interest rates to drastically spike, and lead other countries to begin abandoning the U.S. dollar as their reserve currency of choice.