President Biden’s public schedule for Wednesday (05/03/2023):
| 10:00 AM | In-Town Pool Call Time The White HouseIn-Town Pool |
| 11:45 AM | The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing; The Vice President attends Oval Office Closed Press |
| 12:45 PM Lunch | The President and The Vice President have lunch Private Dining Room Closed Press |
| 1:00 PM Press Briefing | Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre James S. Brady Press Briefing Room |
| 6:30 PM | The President and The First Lady host a dinner for Combatant Commanders State Dining Room In-House Pool Spray |
The “MAGA” House Republicans [still suck] Tweets
From Tuesday…
Remarks by President Biden at a National Small Business Week Event (05/01/2023).
The video clip is 46 seconds long.
President Biden:
Last week, Speaker McCarthy passed a partisan bill that would claw back billions of dollars meant for small businesses.
It would gut training and support, make it harder for veterans-owned businesses to win federal contracts.
Slash funding for the Small Business Administration’s Inspector General to fight fraud and abuse to keep this president on — this program on the level.
Their extreme MAGA plan would cut critical funding for education, public safety, including cut 60,000 public schoolteachers, take healthcare and food assistance away from millions of working families. Moody’s suggested it would cost us 780,000 jobs lost if it passed — not me, Moody’s. It would put the entire economy at risk by refusing to pay our nation’s bills.
White House.gov. 05/01/2023.
From Wednesday…
On Monday (05/01/2023) the White House posted the following readout of; President Biden’s Call with Congressional Leaders
This afternoon, President Biden called Speaker McCarthy, who is leading a CODEL in Israel, to invite him to a meeting at the White House on May 9 with Leader Jeffries, Leader Schumer, and Leader McConnell, who the President also called today.
White House.gov. 05/01/2023.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre opened yesterday’s press briefing by saying:
Okay, here we go. So, yesterday, Secretary Yellen estimated that without action by Congress, we could be unable to meet our obligations. In other words, default as early as June 1st.
White House.gov. 05/02/2023.
The updated projection should be a wake-up call to Congress. It is time for the Speaker and the MAGA Republicans to stop the brinksmanship and act to prevent default, which would have devastating consequences on our economy and the American people.
It is Congress’s constitutional obligation to act, not hold the full faith and credit of the United States hostage unless we allow them to make cuts to programs hardworking Americans rely upon.
Threatening to default and crash the economy unless the President agrees with Speaker McCarthy’s entire agenda isn’t just unreasonable, it’s dangerous.
That’s why the President called each of the four leaders yesterday and asked that they come to the White House on May 9th to discuss the urgency and importance of avoiding default.
In his calls, he was clear: It is Congress’s constitutional duty to prevent default. This is not an issue that we will negi- — negotiate on. The debt limit was increased three times under President Trump. It should be no different this time.
Given the limited time Congress now has, it is clear that — that the only practical path to avoid default is for Congress to suspend the debt limit without conditions.
During his meeting with the leaders, the President will discuss initiating a separate process to address the budget and appropriations, because we have long said we welcome a conversation about spending priorities.
But it’s — but let’s be clear about the — about what House Republicans’ Default on America Act does. It makes a series of deeply devastating and unpopular cuts to things like veterans’ health benefits. There is no constituency in this nation that supporting — that supports threatening to kill millions of jobs unless the VA is gutted, except apparently extreme MAGA Republicans — House Republicans, to be even more specific.
Their bill would cut 81,000 jobs from the VA, reducing outpatient visits by 30 million, and increase the disability claims backlog by an estimated 134,000. More than two dozen veterans’ organizations publicly pleaded with House Republicans to protect veterans from general budget cuts. Republicans refused. Republicans made last-minute changes to protect special interests, but they refuse to include veterans in those protections.
Sadly, Republicans are now attacking the very veterans group who raised alarm bells about these draconian cuts to the programs veterans and families rely on.
And that’s not only — that’s not only the — that’s not the only thing that they’re doing.
After pushing to repeal literal — literally dozens of clean energy tax credits, House Republicans are going out of their way to profess their loyalty to big oil. Their Default in America Act would be a boon for big oil, preserving $31 billion in subsidies for companies that are already posting record profits to the tune of tens of billions of dollars. And they’d be doing that at the expense of our nation’s veterans, our schoolteachers, our police, our border patrol.
President — President Biden will not allow that to happen.
I posted in Tuesday’s Biden Bits the House Republicans “spending” bill they passed last week.
After I posted Tuesday’s Biden Bits the White House posted; STATE FACT SHEETS: MAGA House Republicans’ Default on America Act Would Have Devastating Impacts Across America
Extreme bill would cut veterans’ health care, jeopardize public safety, and raise costs for families—even as House Republicans separately push for trillions in tax cuts skewed to the wealthy and big corporations
Congressional Republicans are holding the nation’s full faith and credit hostage in an effort to impose devastating cuts that would hurt veterans, raise costs for hardworking families, and hinder economic growth. The Default on America Act would cut veterans’ health care, education, Meals on Wheels, and public safety, take away health care from millions of Americans, and send manufacturing jobs overseas. Outside economists say that if enacted, the Default on America Act would “increase the likelihood” of a recession and result in 780,000 fewer jobs by the end of 2024. And House Republicans are demanding these cuts while separately advancing proposals to add over $3 trillion to deficits through tax cuts and giveaways skewed to the wealthy and big corporations.
The Default on America Act stands in sharp contrast with President Biden’s Budget, which invests in America, lowers costs for families, protects and strengthens Medicare and Social Security, and reduces the deficit by nearly $3 trillion over 10 years, while ensuring no one making less than $400,000 per year pays a penny more in new taxes.
Today, the White House released 51 fact sheets highlighting the devastating impacts of the Default on America Act on states and the District of Columbia. Nationally, the Default on America Act would have devastating impacts on the American people. It would:
White House.gov. 05/02/2023.
Jeopardize Transportation Safety and Infrastructure
- Cut Nearly 7,500 Rail Safety Inspections. At a time when train derailments are wreaking havoc on community safety, The Default on America Act would lead to nearly 7,500 fewer rail safety inspection days and over 30,000 fewer miles of track inspected annually—enough track to cross the United States nearly 10 times. Since the Norfolk Southern train derailment, bipartisan Senators have called for more rail inspections, not fewer.
- Jeopardize Air Safety by Shutting Down at Least 375 Air Traffic Control Towers. The Default on America Act would shut down services at 375 federally-staffed and contract Air Traffic Control Towers across the country—undermining safety at two thirds of all U.S. airports—and increase wait times at TSA security check points by over 2 hours at large airports across the country.
- Withhold Vital Transportation Infrastructure Funding. Under the Default on America Act, the United States would stand to lose nearly $5.2 billion in funding for transit and highway infrastructure projects all across the country.
Raise Costs for Families
- Eliminate Preschool and Child Care Slots. The Default on America Act would mean 200,000 children lose access to Head Start slots and 180,000 children lose access to child care—undermining our children’s education and making it more difficult for parents to join the workforce and contribute to our economy.
- Strip Nutrition Assistance from Women and Children. The Default on America Act would also mean 1.7 million women, infants, and children would lose vital nutrition assistance through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), increasing child poverty and hunger.
- Raise Housing Costs for Americans. Under the Default on America Act, more than 600,000 families would lose access to rental assistance, including older adults, persons with disabilities, and families with children, who without rental assistance would be at risk of homelessness.
Harm Seniors, Older People, and Veterans
- Threaten Medical Care for Veterans. The House Republicans’ Default on America Act would mean 30 million fewer veteran outpatient visits, and 81,000 jobs lost across the Veterans Health Administration, leaving veterans unable to get appointments for care including wellness visits, cancer screenings, mental health services, and substance use disorder treatment.
- Worsen Social Security and Medicare Assistance Wait Times for Seniors. Under the House Republicans’ Default on America Act, people applying for disability benefits would have to wait at least two months longer for a decision. With fewer staff available, seniors would also be forced to endure longer wait times when they call for assistance for both Social Security and Medicare, and as many as 240 Social Security field offices could be forced to close or shorten the hours they are open to the public.
- Jeopardize Food Assistance for Older Adults. House Republicans are threatening food assistance for up to 900,000 older adults with the Default on America Act’s harsh new eligibility restrictions in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Jeopardize Health Coverage and Access to Care
- Jeopardize Health Coverage and Access to Care for Americans. The Default on America Act would put health insurance coverage—and health—at risk for 21 million Americans. Only one state has ever fully implemented similar policies, and nearly 1 in 4 adults subject to the policy lost their health coverage—including working people and people with serious health conditions—with no evidence of increased employment.
- Deny Americans Access to Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder. The Default on America Act would deny access to opioid use disorder treatment for more than 28,000 people through the State Opioid Response grant program—denying them a potentially life-saving path to recovery.
Hurt Children and Students and Undermine Education and Job Training
- Gut Funding for Low-Income Students. The Default on America Act would cut approximately $4 billion in funding for schools serving low-income children—equivalent to removing more than 60,000 teachers and specialized instructional support personnel from classrooms, impacting an estimated 26 million students.
- Reduce Support for Students with Disabilities. Under the Default on America Act, as many as 7.5 million children with disabilities would face reduced supports—a cut equivalent to removing more than 48,000 teachers and related services providers from the classroom.
- Slash Mental Health Support for Students. The Default on America Act would limit educators’ abilities to address student mental health issues and prevent suicide and drug use by cutting funding dedicated to creating healthy learning environments in schools by about $300 million.
- Eliminate Student Debt Relief. The Default on America Act would eliminate the President’s one-time student debt relief plan, denying much needed emergency student loan relief of up to $20,000 for more than 40 million Americans recovering from the effects of the pandemic. It would also block the creation of new, more affordable student loan repayment plans such as the President’s proposal to cut undergraduate loans payments in half.
- Make College More Expensive. The Default on America Act would reduce the maximum award for Pell Grants by nearly $1,000, likely eliminating it altogether for 80,000 students while making it harder for the remaining 6.6 million recipients to attend and afford college.
- Cut Off Access to Workforce Development Services. The Default on America Act would result in nearly 700,000 fewer workers receiving job training and employment services provided through the Department of Labor’s workforce development funding. These harmful cuts would deprive businesses of the skilled workforce they need to thrive, and would cut off worker pathways to good jobs.
State Fact Sheets:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- District of Columbia
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
This analysis assumes an across-the-board reduction of roughly 22% compared to currently enacted FY 2023 levels for non-defense discretionary accounts. That aligns with Congressional Republicans’ Default on America Act, which would return discretionary spending to FY 2022 levels on an ongoing basis while exempting defense spending.
White House.gov. 05/02/2023.
Outside economists say =’s an 11 pg. PDF posted by Moody’s Analytics. The breakdown of the House Republicans breakdown begins on pg. 3 and concludes on pg. 8.
Two key takeaways from my first read through skipping the small talk
- 2022 spending levels [Report from the CBO Feb., 2023]. Annual spending growth would then be capped at 1% for the next decade. While not stipulated in the legislation, Republicans would likely work to exclude discretionary spending on defense and veterans’ benefits from the cuts, putting the burden of the cuts on nondefense, non-VA discretionary programs.4 If nondefense discretionary outlays were to bear the full brunt of the proposed budget cuts, they would fall to 2% of GDP by fiscal 2033, the lowest since at least the early 1960s (see Chart 4). (pg. 5).
- While the economy skirts recession in both scenarios, recession risks are uncomfortably high, with a consensus of economists [paywalled Wall Street Journal article] and many investors and business executives expecting a downturn beginning late this year or early next. The timing of the government spending cuts in the Limit, Save, Grow Act is thus especially inopportune as it would meaningfully increase the likelihood of such a downturn. Indeed, under the legislation, GDP growth is so weak that employment declines in the first three quarter of 2024, and the unemployment rate rises by more than a percentage point to 4.6% by the fourth quarter of 2024. Compared with the Clean Debt Limit scenario, by year-end 2024, employment is 780,000 jobs lower, and the unemployment rate is 0.36 percentage point higher. (pg.6)
The Economy Tweets
From Tuesday…
From Wednesday…
April’s Jobs Report is scheduled for release on Friday (05/05/2023).
This is an Open Thread.
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