House Democrats are up in arms that the White House isn\u2019t pushing harder for tax hikes for the wealthy as part of the debt ceiling talks, fuming that the deficit-reduction debate has centered on Republicans\u2019 insistence on sharp spending cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While President Biden\u2002<\/u><\/a>has repeatedly called for tax hikes on wealthy Americans to accompany the talks, he\u2019s stopped short of demanding such provisions as part of a final deal. And there\u2019s been no sign the White House officials on the front lines of the negotiations are threatening GOP leaders with red lines on the issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaker Kevin McCarthy\u2002<\/u><\/a>(R-Calif.), meanwhile, has rejected new revenues out of hand, saying they\u2019re a non-starter in the conservative-leaning House GOP conference that controls the lower chamber. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The combination, according to the Democratic critics, makes for a lopsided negotiation \u2014 one where both sides want to raise the debt ceiling, but Democrats are asked to swallow unpopular cuts to get it while Republicans don\u2019t have to give up anything at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s what sucks,\u201d Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) said. \u201cWe should have a 1-to-1 ratio between revenue and cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The dynamics mark a sharp departure from debt ceiling fights in the past, when both sides of the budget ledger were represented at the table. In those battles, Republicans would demand cuts to federal programs, Democrats would insist on revenue hikes, and both parties acknowledged a deal was impossible without ceding something to the other side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some Democrats are blaming Biden \u2014 who initially refused to negotiate with Republicans on the debt ceiling \u2014 for waiting too long to launch the talks, thereby undermining the Democrats\u2019 leverage to demand revenues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think that ship sailed, and it\u2019s disappointing to me that that wasn\u2019t injected from the very beginnings of this negotiation,\u201d said Rep. Dean Phillips\u2002<\/u><\/a>(D-Minn.), a member of the centrist Problem Solvers Caucus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI do not want to undermine the current negotiation,\u201d he added, \u201cbut I\u2019m deeply disappointed that wasn\u2019t immediately met with demands for revenue increases \u2014 at least loophole closures, for goodness\u2019 sakes. That was a big mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re negotiating against yourself if you\u2019re not asking for something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The White House has rejected the idea that the administration is not fighting for revenue raisers, saying it\u2019s made clear publicly and behind closed doors that it wants tax hikes to be a part of the final package \u2014 and it wants Biden\u2019s Democratic allies to help apply the pressure on Republicans to accept those terms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As the debate has evolved, Biden has claimed a series of victories on the revenue side, saying he\u2019s rejected GOP demands for billions of dollars in tax breaks for major oil companies, billions more in \u201cexcess payments\u201d to big pharmaceutical companies, and will continue to fight to raise the actual tax rates on billionaires and major corporations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey just said revenue is off the table. Well, revenue is not off the table,\u201d Biden said Sunday during a press briefing in Japan. \u201cWe are willing to cut spending, as well as raise revenue, so people start paying their fair share.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But those claims are being met with some skepticism among House Democrats, who have been cut out of the direct negotiations and are waiting anxiously to learn what Biden\u2019s team has agreed to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is almost impossible to reconcile what we\u2019re hearing about Biden pushing back with all of the other stuff we\u2019re hearing that suggests the opposite. So I think there\u2019s a great level of discomfort,\u201d Rep. Jared Huffman\u2002<\/u><\/a>(D-Calif.) said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe\u2019s not only not pushing back hard enough, he has dignified this notion that McCarthy is an honest broker and a reasonable leader,\u201d Huffman continued. \u201cIf you look a little deeper, these are extreme, reckless demands linked to a default, and we have not projected that narrative at all \u2014 in large part because the White House just hasn\u2019t done it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The criticisms arrive as Biden and McCarthy are racing for a deal to lift the debt ceiling and prevent an unprecedented government default, which the Treasury Department has warned could occur as soon as June 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The debate is reminiscent of 2011, when former President Obama squared off against then-Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in a battle that threatened a default and sparked the first credit downgrade in U.S. history. But there are significant differences between then and now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Republicans are still demanding sharp spending cuts below current levels, but unlike Boehner, they have refused to accept tax hikes in return. McCarthy has defended that position, arguing that federal revenues, as a percentage of the economy, are higher than they\u2019ve been in years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo it\u2019s not a taxing issue. What it really is is a spending issue,\u201d the Speaker said recently on Fox Business. \u201cAnd the White House needs to understand this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Biden and his Democratic allies have rejected that argument, noting that tax rates \u2014 particularly for wealthy individuals and corporations \u2014 are lower than they\u2019ve been in decades, and maintaining those low rates should not come at the expense of federal programs for low-income people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n