Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., encouraged his Democratic Party colleagues to negotiate with Republicans on spending cuts Thursday, in hopes of stopping the "madness" and solving the country's looming crisis with the debt ceiling.
Manchin wants Democrats and Republicans to avoid any last-minute sticking points with debt-ceiling talks, which could reach a crisis point sometime in June.
"If you love your children, if you love this country, you'll stop the madness and start acting reasonably and responsibly to get our government's financial house in order. It's long past due. The partisan politics can wait," said Manchin in a floor speech.
He continued: "There's always times to have arguments and disagreements. But the looming debt crisis cannot. It cannot basically have the disruption that we have and the discourse and political toxic atmosphere that we have here. We've got to come together for the sake of our great country."
Manchin maintained the U.S. must put itself on a fiscally sustainable path — a process that might involve making unpopular spending cuts to the U.S. budget.
Other Democratic lawmakers have resisted any calls for concessions. Instead, they reportedly are asking for a clean increase to the debt limit, thus avoiding a default on America's financial obligations for the fiscal year.
According to USDebtClock.org, America's debt is north of $31 trillion.
"Watching party politics and out-of-control spending threaten the very foundation of our great nation — this is exactly what George Washington was talking about. And he was so right 227 years ago and what's so wrong with Washington today," said Manchin.
"The American people have had enough of the gimmicks and budgetary games that we play in Congress, and it's got to stop. I venture to say ... that there are very few accountants, professionals in this field, and accounting professionals that have expertise that could make any sense out of our scoring and how we expense," added Manchin.
When talking to Republicans, Manchin said he wants to eliminate all speculation of a debt-limit default.
"We have to pay our sins of the past, but can't we at least sit down and discuss — just discuss — how did we get here so fast? Faster than any time in history in a 10-year period, how did we accumulate this much debt? Can we talk about that, and see if there's a pathway forward?" asked Manchin.
"My Republican friends refuse to offer any specifics; and some have threatened default, which is absolutely not on the table, cannot be on the table, and will not happen," added Manchin. "I can assure you we'll never solve the problems by each party running in opposite directions; and we'll only be able to change course by coming together, embracing common sense, and finding common ground."
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