Chris Hayes: GOP will 'strap on the explosive vest' and hold America's economy for 'ransom' if they win

On Tuesday's edition of MSNBC's "All In," anchor Chris Hayes warned of the economic shocks that could be coming if Republicans take control of the House in the November elections.

The threat stems from GOP plans to use the debt ceiling — the artificial limit on repaying debt issued by previous spending — as a hostage negotiation tool to force Democrats to accept what they are billing as anti-inflation measures, but are in fact cuts to critical entitlement programs.

"In order to force democrats to negotiate on their terms specifically on spending cuts, a House Republican majority ... will hold the U.S. government and all of us, and the global economy, hostage," said Hayes. "If they bust through it, they don't raise the debt limit, it would most likely mean, like, genuine domestic and global financial calamity at a time of tremendous uncertainty. And when they take that hostage, they will say, we are going to do this unless you agree to voting for enormous cuts to spending, including Social Security and Medicare. Again, this is the big answer to the question, okay, we care about the economy, we care about inflation, where Republicans are running against the Biden economy. What are you going to do about it? This is the plan."

Hayes then proceeded to play a clip of Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) laying out clearly that he wants the debt ceiling to be a bargaining chip to force a change to fiscal policy.

"I think it has to be," said Banks. "It's a major leverage point — to control spending. We've seen the national debt now surpass $31 trillion. It's a key driver of inflation. We have to use a moment like that to do things that the administration wouldn't otherwise do."

"So, you heard, this is the explicit plan to fight inflation," said Hayes. "Strap on the explosive vest, hold the government's full faith and credit to the United States for ransom, unless Democrats agree to painful cuts to government spending, which is a fine thing to say, like, in the abstract. but where with those come from? Kevin McCarthy, who's likely become the next speaker if Republicans take the House, has said as much as well. Again, republicans are smart enough, some of them, I mean, cagey about what exactly 'wasteful spending' means. But not all of them. Earlier this month, Bloomberg News reported some wanted to tie the debt ceiling explicitly to — and I'm quoting directly here — cuts to Medicare and Social Security. Medicare and Social Security."

Watch below:

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