Lessons From The 2011 Debt Ceiling Standoff
Consider This from NPR
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🗓️ 18 January 2023
⏱️ 11 minutes
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Summary
That means the clock is ticking for Congress to take action to raise the debt ceiling. For the moment, though, Democrats and Republicans are in a staring match.
House Republicans say they won't raise the limit without significant spending cuts. The White House says it won't negotiate over it.
Juana Summers talks with two people who've been here before: Jason Furman, who was an economic advisor to then-President Obama during the 2011 debt ceiling stalemate, and Rohit Kumar, who was then a top aide to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We're at the start of a staring match in Washington that will almost certainly last |
| 0:05.3 | into the summer. |
| 0:06.8 | An issue is the federal debt limit, which Congress must raise sometime soon, or risk triggering |
| 0:12.4 | a national or even global recession. |
| 0:15.6 | On one side of the standoff is the White House. |
| 0:18.3 | We're not going to work our way around this. |
| 0:20.3 | We're not going to negotiate on this. |
| 0:22.4 | This is the basic, the basic duties of Congress. |
| 0:26.2 | Press Secretary Karin Jean-Pierre says President Biden wants lawmakers to raise the debt |
| 0:30.7 | ceiling with no strings attached. |
| 0:33.4 | Many House Republicans would very much like to attach some strings in the form of major |
| 0:38.2 | spending cuts. |
| 0:39.6 | Here's Congressman James Comer of Kentucky on CNN this week. |
| 0:43.2 | Republicans were elected with a mandate from the American people in the midterm elections. |
| 0:48.1 | We campaigned on the fact that we were going to be serious about spending cuts. |
| 0:51.9 | So the Senate is going to have to recognize the fact that we're not going to budge until |
| 0:56.0 | we see meaningful reform with respect to spending. |
| 1:00.1 | Someone will have to blink before long. |
| 1:02.2 | The standoff will end with either a bill to raise the debt limit or a catastrophic default |
| 1:07.1 | this summer. |
| 1:08.7 | Along the way, well, here's how Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez of Texas put it to Fox |
| 1:13.8 | news. |
... |
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