{"id":26762,"date":"2023-05-31T12:04:50","date_gmt":"2023-05-31T19:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=26762"},"modified":"2023-05-31T12:04:51","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T19:04:51","slug":"its-on-mccarthy-to-find-votes-for-ransom-package-say-progressives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/05\/31\/its-on-mccarthy-to-find-votes-for-ransom-package-say-progressives\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s on McCarthy to Find Votes for Ransom Package, Say Progressives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"U.S.<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) walks through the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on May 30, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo: Kevin Dietsch\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Kevin McCarthy took the American economy, and working people’s economic security, hostage,” said one campaigner. “Now if he wants to get his ransom, he ought to put up the votes from his own caucus.”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

JESSICA CORBETT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 30, 2023 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the U.S. House of Representatives prepares for a debt ceiling<\/a> vote as soon as Wednesday, progressives in Congress and beyond are arguing that it is the responsibility of Speaker Kevin McCarthy to deliver the GOP votes needed to pass the package he negotiated with President Joe Biden with the nation hurtling toward economic catastrophe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The window to prevent the first-ever U.S. default is rapidly closing, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warning<\/a> McCarthy (R-Calif.) that absent action on the debt ceiling, the federal government will run out of money to pay its bills on June 5. The so-called Fiscal Responsibility Act announced over the weekend would suspend the country’s arbitrary borrowing limit until January 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the legislation would also cap nonmilitary spending, impose<\/a> work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other safety net initiatives, resume student loan<\/a> payments, cut Internal Revenue Service (IRS) funding to target rich tax dodgers, roll back parts of the National Environmental Policy Act, and greenlight the “climate-killing<\/a>” Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a progressive, here's my concern with the #DebtCeilingAgreement<\/a>:

It takes food stamps away from older, vulnerable Americans;

Fast-tracks dirty-fossil fuel projects;

Triggers student debt payments for 40M+ people;

We're facing the greatest climate and affordability crisis\u2026<\/p>— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) May 30, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>