Re: Sign if you agree: Social Security & Medicare are sacred. Republicans cannot use them as hostages for the debt ceiling.

Friend, this is it. The United States will hit its statutory borrowing cap TONIGHT, at which point the U.S. Treasury Department must begin “extraordinary measures” to stay under the cap for as long as possible. Even so, that would only get us to [early June](. [Sign and send the petition to your members of Congress: Raise the debt limit with no conditions or hostages. It is unconscionable to threaten odious budget cuts.]( [Sign and send the petition]( This is not the first time we've had a debt limit fight. But [what's different]( is the number of far-right extremists in the House Republican caucus. And Speaker Kevin McCarthy has kowtowed to the most odious elements in order to run the chamber with his tenuous majority. MAGA extremists manufactured this financial crisis to force cuts on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other crucial domestic programs. They know cutting these programs would be nearly impossible without holding our economy hostage. We need Democrats to keep standing firm, and enough Republicans to have the sense to say "no" to this outrageous blackmail brought on by the most extremist forces in their party. [Sign and send the petition to your members of Congress: Raise the debt limit with no conditions or hostages. It is unconscionable to threaten odious budget cuts.]( [Sign and send the petition]( Keep fighting, Paul Hogarth, Daily Kos P.S. Below is an email that we sent you earlier in the week on this. --------------------------------------------------------------- Friend, [sign and send the petition: NO HOSTAGE TAKING for the debt ceiling.]( [Sign and send the petition]( U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said we will hit our borrowing cap on Thursday. At that point, the Treasury Department will begin using “extraordinary measures” to stay under the cap for as long as possible – but those options could be exhausted [as early as June](. If Congress takes no action, the United States could then be unable to pay existing debts—[which may lead to a financial meltdown](. Make no mistake, this is a manufactured crisis. MAGA Republicans in Congress have been waiting for this moment for years to demand massive cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other domestic programs that serve as a lifeline to vulnerable communities. And they plan to hold our country hostage until this happens. [Sign and send the petition to your members of Congress: Pass the debt limit with no conditions, and no hostages. Save Social Security, Medicare and other programs.]( [Sign and send the petition]( Kevin McCarthy cut a [secret deal]( with MAGA Republicans like Matt Gaetz to become Speaker, which included [the debt limit](. Now that we stand on the precipice, we cannot let these extremists win by shredding our social safety net. If you have a Democrat in Congress, we need you to tell them to keep standing strong on the debt ceiling fight—and insist on no preconditions. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other domestic programs are non-negotiable. Congress must raise the debt limit. If you have a Republican in Congress, tell them that this plan is pure extortion. It is totally outrageous to jeopardize the world economy to satisfy an insidious ideological agenda. [Sign and send the petition to Congress: NO HOSTAGE TAKING for the debt ceiling]( [Sign and send the petition]( Keep fighting, Paul Hogarth, Daily Kos Daily Kos Relies on Readers Like You We don't have billionaire backers like some right-wing media outlets. Half our revenue comes from readers like you, meaning we literally couldn't do this work without you. Can you chip in $5 right now to help Daily Kos keep fighting? [Chip in $5]( If you wish to donate by mail instead, please send a check to Daily Kos, PO Box 70036, Oakland, CA, 94612. Contributions to Daily Kos are not tax deductible. Sent via [ActionNetwork.org](. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from Daily Kos, please [click here](.