Tell our Members of Congress: Raise the Debt Ceiling and Avoid the MAGA Default Crisis
Call BOTH of your Senators.
Call ONE of the Representatives. Note: only one of these Congressmembers represents you. Find out which one here.
Call Script
My name is __________. I am a constituent, and my zip code is _______. I am a member of Indivisible SF.
We are asking you to protect families and communities from the MAGA Republican plan to cause a completely unnecessary default crisis and then stick "We the People" with the bill.
Do not agree to any demands to cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. Millions of families rely on these programs to make ends meet and care for themselves and their loved ones.
If cuts must be made to federal spending, cut the bloated and fraud-riddled defense budget and eliminate corporate subsidies to the fossil-fuel industry.
Protect the legislation you passed (Inflation Reduction Act) to make prescription drugs more affordable, create green jobs, and compel the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes.
We ask that you stand with President Biden and refuse to engage in phony “negotiations” with Republicans.
Background
We explained the context for this crisis in the past: Tell the President and your Members of Congress: No Deals With Economic Terrorists! | Indivisible SF
Republicans are not negotiating in good faith in order to pass legislation to pay bills the US government already incurred. (This is not about deficit reduction!) Let’s not forget that when the MAGA former president was in the White House, the cap on government debt was raised three times, with bipartisan cooperation: once in late 2017 for three months; then again in 2018 due to Republicans’ huge tax cuts for the wealthy and businesses; and after Democrats took control of the House in 2019, when the debt ceiling was suspended entirely until July of 2021. Democrats refused to use the full faith and credit of the US economy (the debt ceiling) as a political cudgel.
House Republicans have no such restraint. They know that the legislation passed by the 177th Congress (led by Democrats) has been improving our economy, creating jobs, rebuilding our infrastructure, and reducing the deficit, which is popular with the majority of Americans, so they may intend to force a default crisis, hoping to blame the resulting calamity on Democrats and use it to defeat them in 2024. Republicans also know that If they get their way and force a default crisis, their wealthy campaign donors will be just fine, while the other 99 percent of us pay the price.
Here’s just a sampling of the harms forcing a default crisis would cause:
Unemployment could spike to 7 percent, throwing millions out of work and reversing our historic job growth since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The typical worker close to retirement could lose $20,000 from 401(k) savings.
Medicare payments will be delayed for seniors who rely on it for life-sustaining health care.
Credit card rates would rise, sending millions of families into financial stress.
Mortgages could become more than $100,000 more expensive over their thirty-year term.
Seniors could lose social security checks.
References
Indivisible National MAGA Default Crisis Toolkit
Don’t Try to Appease Economic Terrorists, Paul Krugman, NY Times Jan. 19, 2023
You Can Let Republicans Destroy the Economy, or You Can Call Their Bluff, Jamelle Bouie, NY Times, 1/20/23
Legislative Process 101: The Debt Ceiling, Indivisible National
Congress raising the debt ceiling is suddenly a problem for Republicans, MSNBC, Hayes Brown, 9/02/2021
Debt limit options narrowing, 14th Amendment chatter returns, Roll Call, 9/20/21
Military Spending by Country 2023, World Population Review