President Biden’s Multitrillion-dollar Agenda Now in Doubt

BETSEY STEVENSON, FORMER COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS MEMBER: There’s no reason for us to have a debt ceiling. What we need to do is have real, honest discussions about how much revenue we raise and how much we spend. And that will then determine how much debt we have. We — the way to deal with your debt is not to rack it up, and then fail to pay it. And I think, again, a reminder that we owe this money to the American people. The American people want their money back. So we can’t just stop paying the people that have generously loaned the federal government money What we have to do is figure out whether we want to raise more revenue to get the debt down. I think there’s a lot of proposals on the Hill to raise more revenue. We could — there’s a lot of things we could do there. I know Republicans would like to see a spending cut. That’s the debate they need to have. It’s not about whether we pay the people who have loaned us money back. I think that’s just a really irresponsible way to govern. And it would be really good policy if we just got rid of the debt ceiling.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA: So, you mentioned raising revenue, which brings us to the next crisis that I want to talk to you about. And, Donna, let’s begin with you, because, obviously, this is President Biden’s agenda that’s on the line right now. And we have a vote set for this Monday, that has really divided the Democratic Party. We have the bipartisan bill, the infrastructure bill, that has bipartisan support, the $1 trillion bill. And then we have the reconciliation bill that we still don’t have an agreed-upon price tag on. And the only thing that we heard today from Pelosi and Chuck Schumer is that they have agreed to some sort of framework as to how it would be paid for. What are your thoughts? How do you interpret that? You are somebody who’s been in many of these discussions in the past.

FMR. REP. DONNA SHALALA (D-FL): Well, first of all, I think Democrats are together on supporting the infrastructure bill. Some of the Democrats, the progressive Democrats, have linked it to a vote on this reconciliation bill, because this is the Biden promise, Build Back Better. It’s got the environment. It’s got child tax credit. It will transform what it means to be an American. It will lift people out of poverty. And so many Democrats want that bill along with the infrastructure bill. That’s where the argument is coming. We also have an argument about how to pay for it. The Ways and Means Committee have proposed a number of things to pay for. And we have an argument about the size of it. How much money do we want to spend?; $3.5 billion (sic) is the bill that has come up that many — the majority of the Democrats, I believe, want to support that bill. But there’s a minority that doesn’t, that want a smaller number. They will work it out.