Demonstrators at Meuser’s Pottsville Office Protest GOP Debt Ceiling Negotiations

About a dozen members of the activist group Schuylkill Indivisible gathered outside US Rep. Dan Meuser’s office in Pottsville on Friday afternoon. Their message to the Congressman was to urge his fellow Republicans to pass legislation that raises the country’s debt ceiling and prevent a default in early June.

The presumptive deadline to raise the debt ceiling was June 1 but reports late Friday suggest the US Treasury Dept. says it’s now June 5.

The Federal government reached its debt ceiling in January, actually, but the Treasury Dept. has enacted “extraordinary measures” to make sure the government continues to pay its financial obligations.

If a debt ceiling deal is not reached by that seemingly arbitrary deadline, the US would default on its debts. It’s hard to find a financial expert who disagrees that if the federal government allows that to happen, the results would be devastating to the US economy.

In its current standoff with the Biden administration, Republicans in Washington want some form of guarantee that if the debt ceiling is raised, the government reduces spending.

In an interview earlier this week with Newsmax, Meuser said the Biden administration doesn’t want to negotiation with Republicans because it wants a “blank check” to spend.

He also said the administration’s plan to allow it to spend more is to tax more.

“Democrats have not earned a blank check from the American taxpayer and Congress is not going to give it to them. They want to tax. They want to spend more. And they want a blank check from the American people,” Meuser said on the Wake Up America” program on Newsmax.

“The debt ceiling is not a budget negotiation,” Amanda Waldman said, standing in front of Meuser’s office.

Waldman, of Lycoming County, ran against Meuser in the 2022 midterms, and joined Schuylkill Indivisible at its demonstration Friday.

She agreed with the Republicans’ stand that spending in Washington needs to be curbed. But that is a matter for another negotiation, she believes.

“We need a fiscally responsible budget. We need to cut spending. This fight should be over the budget, not the debt ceiling,” Waldman added.

Schuylkill Indivisible member Lisa Von Ahn compared Republican tactics to “swinging a wrecking ball at the economy for no good reason other than political posturing and (House Speaker Kevin) McCarthy wants to keep his job.”