Republicans: There's No Debt Crisis, We Just Want to Screw the Poor

Appearing on Sunday morning talk shows this weekend, Boehner and Ryan revealed that their push for spending cuts is all about ideology — not economic collapse.
March 18, 2013  |   By Alyssa Figueroa

Appearing on Sunday morning talk shows this weekend, both Republican House majority leader John Boehner and Republican Congressman Paul Ryan admitted that there is no imminent debt crisis.

On ABC’s “This Week,” Boehner said he agrees with President Obama that there is no immediate crisis concerning the country’s debt.

Boehner told ABC’s Martha Raddatz:

We do not have an immediate debt crisis. But we all know that we have one looming. And we have-- one looming-- because we have entitlement programs that are not sustainable in their current form. They're gonna go bankrupt. Washington has responsibility-- to our seniors and our near seniors-- that we firm up these programs so that they're there for the long term. Because if we don't do it, not only will they not get benefits, we will have a debt crisis right around the corner. We have time to solve our problems. But we need to do it now.

Later, on “Face the Nation,” Paul Ryan agreed, even boasting that the United States is handling debt better than European countries and has a “resilient economy.”

Then he admitted to CBS’s Bob Schieffer:

We do not have a debt crisis right now, but we see it coming. We know it’s irrefutably happening. And the point we’re trying to make with this budget is let’s get ahead of this problem.

Meanwhile, the Republican Party continues to push through a budget that emphasizes cuts to the so-called “entitlement” programs. Ryan’s proposed budget would cut more than $4 trillion from the federal budget — bringing government spending to the lowest levels since 1948. And it’s balanced mostly on the backs of the poor, as he proposed to slash Medicare, Medicaid and other social welfare programs like food stamps. His plan would also repeal Obamacare. Overall, 66 percent of his proposed budget cuts would be cuts to those with low and middle incomes.

Admitting that there’s no immediate crisis illustrates that the GOP’s proposed monstrous cuts to social welfare programs are more an attempt to push through their ideology than save the country from collapse. As the media continues to hyperbolize the deficit, the need for compromise and the instantaneous dangers that will occur if we don’t impose austerity cuts, Republicans are happily using the spin to quickly demand these absurd cuts. But now, especially with both parties acknowledging that there’s no immediate debt crisis, we must demand an honest, smart budget from Congress.