House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries tells the truth (1:30):

Remember the 2022 midterms when the last two congress members who represented Iowa’s southeast corner – one Republican and one Democrat – both endorsed the Democratic candidate for the seat? Both did so because they wanted the candidate who they felt best represented Iowa. Jim Leach and Dave Loebsack were right.

Wednesday all of Iowa’s representatives voted the party line in supporting Speaker McCarthy’s version of a debt limit bill. No independent thinkers in the Iowa caucus. No one that could that would have the backbone and say that this is a really bad bill. And the bill is bad says analysis by Moody’s Analytics on Monday.

The plan proposed by Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to raise the US debt ceiling in exchange for cuts in government spending would slow growth and cut employment, Moody’s Analytics said in a note Monday.

According to the ratings agency’s research arm, if the draft presented by McCarthy on April 17 were passed as is, it would lead to a drop of 0.6 percentage points in US potential growth for 2024, as well as the elimination of 780,000 jobs.

Unemployment would reach 4.6 percent, against 3.5 percent in March 2023, as compared to a scenario in which a new ceiling was approved without conditions.

This is the kind of thing that former Representatives Leach and Loebsack were warning us about. The person that now fills their former seat, Mariannette Miller-Meeks seems to have no clue what the debt ceiling is and what the effects of her votes are. Miller-Meeks appears to be merely filling a seat and casting votes as she is told. Neither Leach nor Loebsack did that. There was always reasoned thought behind their votes.

The Miller-Meeks vote was pointed out in Thursday’s  High Five email from Progress Iowa:

This email links to a story at iowastartingline.com by Keya Vakil that puts much more meat on the bones of the concept of the “Debt ceiling limit” and the dangerous fiscal games that Republicans since Newt Gingrich have decided to play with it:

“Let us take food and healthcare away from millions of American families or we’ll cause an economic collapse” might seem like an extreme political position, but it’s mainstream among House Republicans, who on Wednesday passed a bill to do just that and a whole lot more.

Dubbed the “Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023” by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California), and the “Default on America Act” by Democrats, the proposal seeks $4.5 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade and to limit future spending on everything from food assistance for children and seniors to childcare to veterans healthcare.

In Iowa, an estimated 132,000 people could lose access to Medicaid health insurance if the bill were to become law, according to estimates from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Estimates from the federal government suggest that under McCarthy’s plan:

• 92,000 Iowans would lose access to food assistance

• 2,900 kids in Iowa would lose preschool and child care slots.

• 5,100 Iowa families would lose access to rental assistance, including older adults, those with disabilities, and families with children.

• As many as 70,000 kids with disabilities in Iowa would face reduced support.

• Iowa schools serving nearly 110,000 low-income children would lose $25 million in funding, equivalent to removing about 400 teachers and other personnel from classrooms.

• Iowa veterans would lose 77,500 outpatient doctors visits, including for issues like mental health and substance disorder treatment and suicide prevention.

• Thousands of Iowa seniors would lose access to Meals on Wheels.

We thank Reporter Vakil for fleshing out the real damage such a bill could do to our friends and neighbors. While we are pointing a finger at Miller-Meeks, remember that the whole Iowa congressional delegation marched in lock step to pass this horrendous bill.

This bill will also reverse the very successful Democratic Inflation Reduction Act bill passed last year that has created jobs, brought businesses back to our shores and is taming inflation. Make no doubt that Speaker McCarthy’s goal is not the good of Americans, but to make President Biden look bad – even if he (McCarthy) and his party has to wreck our country’s economy.

Think when you vote. With Republicans in charge of any piece of the economy, disaster looms. Recent history is filled with examples from hoover on down.