Republicans have been trying to get America’s runaway spending under control so future generations aren’t saddled with unimaginable levels of debt. But that’s hard to do when there are bad-faith actors like Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell on CNN This Morning portraying the GOP as terrorists taking “hostage[s]” and holding “a gun to the head of the global economy.”
After co-host Poppy Harlow commentator John Avlon huffed about Democrats not taking the opportunity to remove America’s debt limit when they had full control of the government at the start of Biden’s term, co-host Kaitlan Collins turned to Rampell to smear Republicans with her vile analogies.
“I think the challenges, even if you accept the premise that it is appropriate to negotiate with a gun to the head of the global economy, right, to take the debt limit hostage in exchange for some demands,” Rampell proclaimed.
She went on to suggest that Republicans “don't know what their demands are” in terms of what to cut from federal spending. And as if every dollar the federal government spent was done so wisely and frugally, she decried the Republicans’ “across-the-board spending caps, it does not specify what they would cut because they don't know what they could cut.”
Things further dove into the hyperbolic as she declared that anything they would want to cut “would be so unpopular.” Of course, she immediately went on to suggest Republicans wanted to starve babies and let crime run rampant:
They know that. You know, are you cutting infant nutrition, are you going to cut the FBI, are you going to cut border security? All of those things are so unpopular which is why they have this vague, unspecified, across-the-board spending cap plan, which is similar to what they did in 2011, by the way, and they could not keep to in 2011.
In reality, it was Democrats who didn’t care about babies since they were for abortion, many defunded law enforcement, and were for open borders.
To Avlon’s credit, he did note that since the Republican plan included those spending caps, you couldn’t take Democratic claims of specific cuts and dollar amounts at face value. “Look, what Catherine said is right but also a reason not to take Democrats saying this is what would be cut as Gospel because, in fact, nobody knows,” he explained.
He also pushed back on Rampell’s hyperbolic ranting on unpopular Republican spending cuts. “There are specific proposals Republicans have put forward, some of which could be popular,” he informed viewers, “you might be able to get a side agreement on: permitting reform, clawing back unspent COVID spending, we disagree about this, but work requirements.”
Although, he did say those shouldn’t be wrapped into the debt limit negotiations. “Those are areas where Democrats could make concessions but say let's do it in regular order, let’s not with a gun to the head of the global economy,” he argued. Earlier in the segment, he called them “reckless.”
But negotiating on future spending and being responsible prevents a nation from hitting their debt limit, and having this game of chicken play out every several months.
This smears against Republicans were made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Liberty Mutual and Sleep Number. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below click "expand" to read:
CNN This Morning
May 2, 2023
8:10:54 a.m. Eastern(…)
KAITLAN COLLINS: But, to their credit, Republicans did vote to raise the debt ceiling under Trump multiple times—
JOHN AVLON: Three times.
COLLINS: -- with no conditions attached. And so the question here though is this is the situation we’re in: McCarthy has now accepted this invitation to go to the White House next week. McConnell and Schumer are also invited, but they aren’t really a factor in this, it’s between McCarthy and Biden to come to an agreement—
AVLON: Yeah.
COLLINS: -- here and it's basically a question of who blinks first and when.
CATHERINE RAMPELL: I think the challenges, even if you accept the premise that it is appropriate to negotiate with a gun to the head of the global economy, right, to take the debt limit hostage in exchange for some demands, the problem is Republicans still don't know what their demands are.
Yes, they passed this bill last week but it has across-the-board spending caps, it does not specify what they would cut because they don't know what they could cut.
COLLINS: And knowing it wouldn't be real, basically?
RAMPELL: And anything they would specify would be so unpopular. They know that. You know, are you cutting infant nutrition, are you going to cut the FBI, are you going to cut border security? All of those things are so unpopular which is why they have this vague, unspecified, across-the-board spending cap plan, which is similar to what they did in 2011, by the way, and they could not keep to in 2011.
POPPY HARLOW: They kept voting to exceed their own limits.
AVLON: When Republicans had unified control, in particular.
Look, what Catherine said is right but also a reason not to take Democrats saying this is what would be cut as Gospel because, in fact, nobody knows. There are specific proposals Republicans have put forward, some of which could be popular, you might be able to get a side agreement on: permitting reform, clawing back unspent COVID spending, we disagree about this, but work requirements.
Those are areas where Democrats could make concessions but say let's do it in regular order, let’s not with a gun to the head of the global economy.
RAMPELL: Yeah, I think it's perfectly appropriate to negotiate over the budget when you are supposed to be negotiating over the budget. It is not appropriate to be taking a hostage as a condition of getting those demands.
(…)
