SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Democrats and Republicans remained at odds Saturday regarding the National Debt ceiling and House GOP members were preparing a contingency plan if no deal is met.
This deal includes not raising the National Debt limit if the Biden administration does not make major spending cuts. Larry Gerston, KCBS political analyst and San Jose State political science professor emeritus, explored how the situation might play out.
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“Of course, for a long time, the Republican party has had a number of issues with a number of our social programs, including Social Security and Medicare,” he said. “So, it remains to be seen exactly what cuts they want.”
Gerston said that “potential victims” of the cuts could be education and the Internal Revenue Service. This week, House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) retweeted Rep. Dan Mueser’s (R-Penn.) comment about rescinding funding for 87,000 IRS agents.
However, Gerston expects the GOP will have a hard time winning over moderates.
“We’ve seen this in the past… when Republicans come up with this wish list, if you will, over time the public gets pretty upset with it, and Republicans back off,” he said. President Joe Biden has also said that he will veto any attempts to cut Social Security or Medicare.
Ultimately, Gerston predicts that the GOP will back off from its attempts to push for budget cuts.
“In the end, its very likely that they’ll cave in,” he said.
“The question is, how much harm is done to the country and, in some respects, how much harm is done to the leadership of the Republican party.”
Although McCarthy was eventually made Speaker of the House this month, it was not an easy win.
“A lot at stake here,” said Gerston.
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