Rep. Andrew P. Harris (R-MD1) voted to hold hostage the full faith and credit of the United States and risk economic chaos and catastrophe. He cast an aye vote for HR 2811, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s reckless plan to force President Biden to negotiate cuts to spending already authorized by Congress, in return for raising the debt limit for a year. HR 2811 has been dubbed the Default on America, or DOA bill by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Shumer (D-NY).
According to the White House, this extreme bill would “cut veterans’ health care, education, Meals on Wheels, and public safety, take away health care from millions of Americans, and send manufacturing jobs overseas. Outside economists say that if enacted, the Default on America Act would ‘increase the likelihood’ of a recession and result in 780,000 fewer jobs by the end of 2024. And House Republicans are demanding these cuts while separately advancing proposals to add over $3 trillion to deficits through tax cuts and giveaways skewed to the wealthy and big corporations.”
To alert the American people to the devastating impact of this reckless extreme MAGA House Republican plan, the White House released a new analysis highlighting the devastating impacts this bill would have in each state. The plan would slash critical investments in hard-working families by roughly 22%, while making trillions in tax cuts.
That’s in sharp contrast with President Biden’s budget, which invests in America, lowers costs for families, protects and strengthens Medicare and Social Security, and reduces the deficit by nearly $3 trillion over 10 years, while ensuring no one making less than $400,000 per year pays a penny more in new taxes.
Unfortunately, this kind of reckless behavior is the best we can expect from our First District MAGA representative Andy Harris. He has never had our best interests at heart, and he still doesn’t.
According to the White House website (from which the items below are copied), the Default on America Act would mean at least $980 million fewer federal grant dollars invested in Maryland, including cuts that would:
Jeopardize Transportation Safety and Infrastructure
Raise Costs for Families
Harm Seniors, Older People, and Veterans
Jeopardize Health Coverage and Access to Care
Hurt Children and Students and Undermine Education and Job Training
(The White House explains how the numbers were arrived at: This analysis assumes an across-the-board reduction of roughly 22% compared to currently enacted FY 2023 levels for non-defense discretionary accounts. That aligns with Congressional Republicans’ Default on America Act, which would return discretionary spending to FY 2022 levels on an ongoing basis while exempting defense spending. The total federal dollars cut in each state represents a 22% reduction across federal discretionary grant programs using FY23 state allocations for the 29 largest federal grants adjusted for remaining grants as though they were evenly distributed.)
Title image: Sunset at Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge, Kent Co. Photo: Jan Plotczyk