Increasing Statuatory Limit on the Public Debt

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Mr. DOGGETT. Today's vote represents just one more step in the Republican effort to dismantle Medicare. This contrived procedure, demanding an extraordinary two-thirds vote, right after the Republican majority announces they won't vote for it, is just a gimmick. You don't have to be much of a math whiz to know if you don't have half the votes in this body, you probably are not going to get two-thirds of the vote.

But it's not about the vote. It's about Republicans, who are withholding their support of an eventual necessary increase in the limit, by demanding that any agreement on that include a weakening of Medicare by imposing something like the Ryan Republican Medicare voucher plan that they all voted for, or some other scheme, to just let Medicare wither on the vine.

Republicans are willing to jeopardize the full faith and credit of the United States of America, exposing us to great potential economic harm. They think the President will once again yield to their ransom demands, as he did last December, by yielding on more tax breaks for billionaires.

Don't yield to this maneuver, Mr. President. Say ``no'' to gimmicks and say ``yes'' to Medicare, one of the best programs ever initiated by this Congress to ensure a little retirement security.

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