Support a Clean Debt Ceiling Increase
On January 13th, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen informed Congress that the United States would reach its debt limit on January 19, and would need to use “extraordinary measures” in order to meet government obligations. While these extraordinary measures will buy some time, breaching the debt limit is expected to occur in early June unless Congress acts.
The debt limit, also known as the debt ceiling, is a legal limit set by Congress on how much debt the U.S government can incur. First established in 1917 as a means to make government spending more flexible during WWI, the debt ceiling has been raised or revised over 78 times since 1960 – 49 times under Republican presidents and 29 times under Democratic presidents – to ensure the government did not default on its debt.
Despite the fact that raising the debt limit is not a vote on spending but rather a vote on paying for spending that has already been approved by Congress, Republicans are using the issue as a bargaining chip to push for drastic budget cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid which would have a devastating impact on millions of Americans. Furthermore, if default were to occur, it would result in catastrophic effects to the US economy, affecting all Americans.
Demand your representatives end the political brinkmanship and support a clean, no-strings-attached, debt ceiling increase so the US can meet its debt and obligations.
Contacts for this topic:
Hi, my name is [NAME] and I’m a constituent from [CITY, ZIP].
I’m calling to demand [REP/SEN NAME] support a clean, no-strings-attached increase to the debt ceiling. It is outrageous that members of Congress would risk our economy to gain political points.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
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