Opinion

Letter: 14th Amendment would be debt-ceiling win-win

Posted May 23, 2023 1:00 am

Concurrent with this letter, Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy are holding a private meeting. The reason? The debt ceiling, using the unambiguous instrument to allow it to continue unabated.

Biden can't ignore Democrats who call for intercession of the 14th Amendment, not to give an inch that will annul critical elements of his Inflation Reduction Act, and McCarthy is stridently opposed to give up his speakership.

Both believe a replacement for McCarthy, a stipulation he agreed to in order to become speaker, could be a far worse outcome if he concedes with no significant cut in spending by the current administration. Ultimate far-right conservatives would finally elect someone that would further the plans of Donald Trump, who said the country should default before giving in.

With Biden invoking the amendment, the win-win resolution, it absolves McCarthy and removes any hint of collaboration with Democrats. First, politicians must have a towering ego to run at all. Second, they want to leave a legacy for all to see after leaving office.

McCarthy doesn't want to leave his legacy as the first speaker in history to lead this country into economic chaos.

James D. Cook

Schaumburg

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