Mike Levin: “Democrats will vote to raise the debt ceiling when there is a plan to reverse fiscal irresponsibility. There is no plan.…”

“Democrats will vote to raise the debt ceiling when there is a plan to reverse fiscal irresponsibility. There is no plan. The fiscal irresponsibility began right here in this U.S. House of Representatives under your majority, and now you try to shift the blame to the Senate, trying to obscure the fact that the irresponsibility commenced right here. We told you that the sheer size of the tax cut made all of your plan a risky gamble. We warned you the projections of future budget surpluses were not written in stone. As it turned out, they were written in sand, in substantial part because of your policies. We have gone from surpluses as far as the eye could see to deficits as far as the eye can see. You are diverting Social Security and Medicare to pay for your tax cuts and other irresponsible programs. The majority has compounded its irresponsibility, as I have said, by tonight saying raise the debt ceiling without any plan to stem the red ink in this budget. It is another $450 billion that will come where? From Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes. You have no plan. All you are trying to do is to shift the blame. This Congress is obliged to raise the debt ceiling, we are obliged to pay our debts, but we should not just write a blank check, which is what you want. We need a plan to stop this raid on Social Security and Medicare.”