Dēmos’ Taifa Smith Butler: The Debt Ceiling is a Manufactured, Self-Imposed Crisis

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Taifa Smith Butler, President of Dēmos, a movement-oriented think tank committed to racial justice, released the following statement on the announcement of President Biden and Speaker McCarthy’s debt ceiling deal: 

[It] serves as a means to cruelly gut the social programs that millions of Americans rely on while giving the wealthy billions of dollars of tax cuts.

“The debt ceiling agreement will directly harm millions of Americans. It is a manufactured and self-imposed crisis that serves as a means to cruelly gut the social programs that millions of Americans rely on while giving the wealthy billions of dollars of tax cuts. Its concessions include cutting funding for nutrition aid, rental assistance programs, senior programs and fast-tracking student loan repayments this summer while benefiting private military contractors and wealthy tax evaders. 

“Let’s be clear—the debt ceiling has nothing to do with future spending—it is a process for ensuring that past spending decisions are honored. However, the impact of the current deal will immediately, and for the foreseeable future, harm families, locking people out of critical systems of support for health, housing, care. 

“We don’t need meaningless deals and devastating cuts in the name of self-imposed debt ceilings; we need structural, bold investments in paid leave, affordable health care, child care infrastructure, safe housing, climate solutions and good union jobs. In order to build an America where a multi-racial majority can thrive, we must abolish the debt ceiling.”