Meet the Press - May 7, 2023
Interview
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Good morning. Great to be on.
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Well, it's a very important discussion. I'm thankful that President Biden has called us together. We need to do two things: One, we have to make sure that America pays its bills to avoid a dangerous default on our debt, in a manner that will blow up the United States economy, likely trigger a job-killing recession, cost us millions of good-paying jobs, crash the stock market, which of course will adversely impact the retirement security of millions of Americans. And it will dramatically raise costs for almost everyone. That has to be avoided. And the one way to do that is to make sure that we raise the debt ceiling, in a manner consistent with what has been done more than 100 times under Democratic presidents and Republican presidents. At the same time, Chuck, President Biden has continued to make clear that we can have a discussion about the right balance of spending, investments, and revenues to make life better for everyday Americans, to impact in a favorable way the health, the safety, and the economic well-being of the American people.
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I do not, because we have a constitutional responsibility to make sure that we protect the full faith and credit of the United States of America. Everyday Americans understand this principle: If you have a bill, you need to pay it. If you fail to pay it, it's going to adversely impact your credit rating. Your credit score will drop. If your credit score drops, your costs are going to go up. And if America defaults on our bills, that's exactly what is going to happen, and everyone is going to pay the price. And so I accept the premise that the only responsible thing to do is to do what Democrats did in the previous administration, where we helped President Trump raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default three different times. Notwithstanding the fact that in our 247-year history, 25% of America's debt was acquired during the Trump administration. And yet, we avoided the default without gamesmanship, without showmanship, without partisanship. That's what the extreme MAGA Republicans should do this time around.
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Well, President Biden has consistently made clear, and in fact, he introduced his budget two months ago. And it is a budget that will invest and protect in social security. It's going to try to strengthen the economy in a way that builds an economy that works for everyday Americans, an economy from the middle out and the ground up, not the top down. And President Biden's budget will also cut the deficit by $3 trillion. We've been waiting for months for the Republicans to articulate their position. They didn't produce a budget. What they did was produce a ransom note. That is what the Default on America Act is. And effectively, what they're saying to the American people is that either you accept these dramatic cuts - cuts to Medicaid spending for disabled children and for elderly Americans, cuts to law enforcement, cuts to education, cuts to health care, cuts to nutrition assistance for food-insecure Americans more than 30 million people throughout the country - either Republicans want us to accept these dramatic cuts, or accept a catastrophic default on our nation's debt. That is what is the unreasonable position. And hopefully, in a few days, Republicans will come to their senses and do what's right by the American people.
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Well, I don't think the responsible thing to do is to kick the can down the road when President Biden has been saying for months, the position of Leader Schumer, the position of House Democrats has been, we have to avoid a default. America should pay its bills, protect the full faith and credit of the United States of America. But we of course are open to having a discussion about what type of investments, what type of spending, what type of revenues are appropriate in order to protect the health, the safety, and the economic well-being of the American people. That's a process that is available to us right now. I don't think we need to delay those discussions for a few months.
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Well, we have to avoid default, period, full stop. I think what's in front of us right now is that President Biden has convened a very important discussion on Tuesday, so we can find a way forward to do what is necessary to continue to strengthen our economy in a manner that benefits everyday Americans.
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Well, we're in lockstep right now in terms of the path forward that President Biden laid out. Ultimately, everyone evaluates on the merits, on any particular piece of legislation, that is presented to us. But we are in lockstep with President Biden. We're in lockstep with Senate Democrats. We want to do the right thing for the American people. That means paying our bills, and simultaneously having this discussion about the future and what spending can look like, anchored in President Biden's budget proposal.
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I do believe the administration is prepared. I know Secretary Mayorkas was there at the border this week. Steps are being taken to make sure that there is order at the border. But that it should be done in a way that is consistent with two principles: One, the rule of law, but two, our history as a compassionate nation as a nation of immigrants. And I think that the administration is preparing in an all-hands-on-deck way to make sure that when we move beyond this Title 42 moment, that we're in position to absorb what takes place. At the same time, we need to begin to have a real bipartisan discussion on comprehensive immigration reform. And I hope that my Republican colleagues will come to the table to have those discussions.
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No, I think that's a premature discussion. I think we have to deal with the situation that is in front of us right now and support the administration efforts to make sure that there are resources at the border to deal with a post-Title 42 environment and to do it in a way, as I mentioned, consistent with both the rule of law, we want order at the border, at the same time do it in a compassionate way and in a way that is consistent with who we are, our values as a nation.
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Well, that's one poll. And I've seen other public opinion surveys that have indicated that there's a closer approximation between the actual reality of the incredible job that President Biden has done with respect to the economy. Record low unemployment, more than 12 million good-paying jobs have been created. He reduced the deficit by $1.7 trillion during President Biden's first two years. That's a record for a similar period of time in American history for any president. But of course President Biden recognizes that more needs to be done to continue to build out an economy that benefits everyday Americans coming out of COVID and in an inflationary environment. I think when it's all said and done and President Biden is on the campaign trail, able to make his case against the extreme MAGA Republicans who are extreme on reproductive freedom, extreme on democracy, extreme on social security and Medicare, extreme in their unwillingness to deal with the gun violence epidemic and crisis, extreme on pretty much every issue out there, I believe that the American people will see fit to reelect President Biden and re-elect him comfortably.
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Thank you, Chuck.
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