'Not really to cut the debt': Expert slams debt ceiling proposals as defense funds increase

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) stood before press cameras on Wednesday to trash President Joe Biden as a socialist for refusing to make massive cuts to spending on things like veteran care and education, and former adviser to Speakers Paul Ryan (R-WI) and John Boehner (R-OH) doesn't see how McCarthy will sell any of the current negotiations to his members.

"It's hard for him to say, here is this deal I got," said Branden Buck on MSNBC. "I don't know exactly what the number is going to be, but it cuts tens of billions of dollars, permitting reform perhaps, working around the edges on work requirements.

"That's about as ambitious as we are looking here. And that's a big departure from what House Republicans are saying McCarthy should hold out for."

According to Economics Professor Jason Furman, the problem isn't just about cutting a few things here and there, the way Republicans are making it sound.

"There will potentially be money added to defense, which means an even bigger cut to non-defense," Furman explained.

"Maybe the Republicans will be disappointed with the top-line spending cuts, but then what will the Democrats think when a bunch of the non-defense cuts are happening, not really to cut the debt but in order to fund extra defense? There's a lot of difficulties on all sides here.

"That's why I think there's only so much the Speaker can reasonably ask for. Of course, there needs to be some form of compromise here. Let's not pretend this is about the debt when you raise defense spending. When you started out saying he wanted to reduce tax enforcement, things like work requirements have little budgetary impact. He should not pretend this is about the debt."

To illustrate that fact, the White House proposed reducing the deficit by $1 trillion over ten years. It comes after Biden's past efforts that cut the deficit by $3 trillion, he said in a speech Sunday. Biden's plan makes cuts across the board and withdraws some of the Republican tax cuts over the past 20 years that added so much to the deficit.

See the conversation below or at the link here.

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