Cartwright a yes on debt bill, Meuser a maybe

May 30—One local congressman plans to vote yes on the debt-ceiling bill, the other is leaning yes, too.

The bill, tentatively agreed to Saturday by negotiators for President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, appeared headed for a House vote Wednesday.

U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-8, Moosic, said he will vote yes with reservations. He thinks the bill "cuts corners" on environmental protection. Its $20 billion reduction to the IRS budget will thwart efforts to end wealthy people's scheming to avoid taxes, he said. He considers both "temporary issues."

"What's really an overriding concern is that we prevent the American economy from cratering because of a default on the American national debt," he said, blaming Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for issuing an "ugly threat" of default on the nation's debts.

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-9, Jackson Twp., said he's leaning yes, though he's still reviewing the bill, which he considers "far from ideal."

"But every provision in it is an incremental improvement to the status quo when it comes to reduction of spending and fiscal responsibility," Meuser said.

"The fact is that we have a Republican majority in the House, we have a Democrat majority in the Senate. And we have a Democrat in the White House. So I am for the most conservative bill possible that can pass. And this very well may be it."

Meuser agreed with Cartwright on a key point.

"A default would be incredibly damaging to our economy," he said. "There would be credit downgrades, interest rate increases, the value of the dollar being devalued and 10% of the payments, perhaps the Social Security, would not be paid."

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9147; @BorysBlogTT on Twitter.