MAGA Defaulting on America
How to talk about another front on the war MAGA is waging against Americans and trying to break the system
Friends,
As I write this, MAGA Republicans in the House are continuing their efforts to default on America by refusing to pass a clean bill so America can pay the debts for money that Congress already appropriated. In the past, Republicans have always stepped back from the edge of default, because they believed that the full faith and credit of the United States was important to protect. This time is different.
The MAGA GOP has made it clear that it is trying to push America to its breaking point and it’s trying out policies in the states that it would like to implement on the federal level. And that is taking away Americans’ freedom to control our own bodies, live our authentic lives, receive a fact-based education, protect our kids from guns (the biggest cause of death for kids in the US).
MAGA also wants to break the economic system so that they can blame the Biden administration and accrue even more power for their White Christian Nationalist wealthy overlords.
Nobody knows where this ends. We do know that the 14th amendment prohibits the US from defaulting on its debts, so there’s a chance that the administration will bypass Congress and pay the debts to protect the full faith and credit of the United States and protect millions of jobs and the global economy. That’s never been tried, however, and we don’t know whether the administration will try it this time. What we do know is that no major party in the United States has ever been willing to wreck the global economy to gain power.
Will the Dems in the Biden/Harris administration or in Congress find a way forward, or are we on the brink of an economic collapse that would make the Great Depression look fun? Stay tuned to find out.
In the meantime, here are a few dos and don’ts for talking about the situation with our friends and family:
DO:
Make clear the tangible consequences of this for real people: immediate cuts to veterans, students, and families, as well as future cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
Expose MAGA’s motivations: to appease the billionaire and corporate donors while harming our entire economy and working people like us in particular.
Go on offense: by linking MAGA’s threats to default on America to MAGA’s actions to take away our other freedoms, including the freedom to have a job and support our families
Signal our commitment to people's wellbeing and desire to have the jobs, retirement, and care that we all need.
DON’T
Call it the “debt ceiling.” This reinforces right wing talking points about fiscal responsibility (even though they are the irresponsible ones)
Talk about process, negotiation details, or hypocrisy. These arguments don’t work and they actually obscure the real danger and consequences to everyday people.
Remind people of previous votes to raise the debt ceiling. This backfires by making us seem perennially irresponsible.
Repeat their claims, even to refute them.
I’ll be spending more time on Tiktok trying to explain the situation to everyday folks on that platform. Find us there @hoosiervictoryalliance . And please let me know if these messaging guides are helpful. Until next week!