Twenty-three days until the government runs out of money and defaults on the debt according to Janet Yellen's June 1 deadline announcement, which may or may not be true, but as federal spending in the first seven months of FY '23 through April continues to skyrocket and the deficit for the full fiscal year is careening toward $2 trillion, a June 1 deadline or something close to it is plausible.
As congressional leaders head to the White House for a meeting with President Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who has the only debt ceiling increase plan in town plus much-needed budget reform, has indicated the need for a debt budget deal in principle by next week. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell had a strong statement.
MITCH MCCONNELL: The solution is clear. It's been clear for months. President Biden needs to negotiate on spending with Speaker McCarthy. The speaker has been at the table since February. House Republicans are the only people in town who have passed any bill that prevents default. President Biden has been MIA. House and Senate Democrats have no plan, no proposal.
Great stuff from Sen. McConnell. We appreciate it. Not a peep coming from Chuck Schumer or Hakeem Jeffries. It seems like right up until the 4 p.m. meeting, President Biden and his commissars continue to badmouth Speaker McCarthy's common-sense solution.
So, one key question is whether there will be any serious negotiations at all at this White House meeting, whether President Biden will have any proposals that Speaker McCarthy could take back to his Republican conference.
Meanwhile, if today is Day 23 for a possible debt default D-Day, today is Day 2 before the Title 42 D-Day sets into place, and this is an unstoppable, catastrophic story. The Biden administration has no plan to replace Title 42 and hundreds of thousands of illegal detainees will be released into the interior of the U.S.
What's more, hundreds of thousands of illegals are poised to enter the U.S. because the Bidens insist on open borders and a failed "catch-and-release" program. Key entry points in San Diego, El Paso and Brownsville are already flooding with illegals. Possibly as many as 140,000 illegals are massing along the Guatemala border to head into the United States.
This is an utter catastrophe on many fronts. The U.S. under Biden’s policies has an open border and has essentially given up its sovereignty. Meanwhile, the Mexican drug cartels have the upper hand and you have sex and child traffickers along with drug trafficking and, if all that weren't awful enough, this is a catastrophe in sheer humanitarian terms.
Where are these people going to go when they come into the U.S.? How will they be housed and fed and cared for? What the Bidens are doing is absolutely cruel. They have no respect for the human beings crossing into this country illegally. They have no respect for U.S. law and they have no respect for the safety of American citizens who may well be put at risk since crime waves almost always accompany migrant waves.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Paying off Treasury bills and maintaining the credit-worthiness of the U.S. is certainty important, but if the U.S. government was delayed 10 days in paying the interest on the 10-year bond in return for $4 or $5 trillion of reduced spending, I could live with that.
However, what is happening on our southern border and what the Bidens have done to destroy law, order, sovereignty and humanitarian well-being — that is a greater sin. Now, I'll just say: Save America, pass the McCarthy bill and save America, close the border.
This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the May 9, 2023, edition of "Kudlow."
