Biden blasts Republicans: "I'm simply not going to let the nation default on its debt"

American President Joe Biden dared Republican lawmakers to release a budget proposal on Tuesday in his latest provocation aimed at forcing GOP leaders to choose a side in the country's looming debt crisis.

"I suggested, instead of making threats about the debt ceiling, which would be catastrophic, let's just lay out our budgets," Biden said according to a Reuters report.

"Here's the bottom line: I'm simply not going to let the nation default on its debt for the first time in history," the President added.

According to Reuters, Biden's budget proposal is set to be released on March 9th but that hasn't stopped House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the Republican Party from playing a dangerous game with their public lambasting of the Biden administration's economic policies.

The United States Department of the Treasury began implementing "extraordinary measures" in January to avoid a potential government default, a situation that could cripple the global economy.

In a letter to congressional leaders, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen explained that she was taking special measures to ensure the United States could meet its debt obligations.

"I write to keep you apprised of actions the Treasury Department is taking in regard to the debt limit," Yellen wrote, adding that pursuant to US law her department had begun taking extraordinary measures to manage America's debt.

Some of the initial extraordinary measures taken included the suspension of new investments in the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund. But Yellen warned the situation would only get worse.

"As I stated in my January 13 letter," Yellen wrote, "the period of time that extraordinary measures may last is subject to considerable uncertainty, including the challenges of forecasting the payments and receipts of the U.S. Government months into the future."

"I respectfully urge Congress to act promptly to protect the full faith and credit of the United States," Yellen added.

Yellen warned Congress on January 13th that the country was likely to hit its statutory debt limit by January 19th. 

“I am writing to inform you that beginning on Thursday, January 19, 2023, the outstanding debt of the United States is projected to reach the statutory limit," Yellen wrote in a letter to leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate. 

"Once the limit is reached,” Yellen added, “Treasury will need to start taking certain extraordinary measures to prevent the United States from defaulting on its obligations." 

Yellen urged lawmakers to avoid this outcome and called on the new Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, and other congressional and senate leaders to raise the debt limit and warned of the consequences if they didn’t act. 

"Failure to meet the government's obligations would cause irreparable harm to the U.S. economy, the livelihoods of all Americans, and global financial stability," Yellen wrote. 

"Indeed, in the past, even threats that the U.S. government might fail to meet its obligations have caused real harms,” Yellen added, “including the only credit rating downgrade in the history of our nation in 2011."

The U.S. debt ceiling was last raised two years to 31.381 trillion according to Yellen’s letter, but this didn’t come without a cost. 

At the time, President Joe Biden fought a bitter fight with friends and foes to ensure that the American government didn’t default on its debt obligations for the first time in the country’s history. 

“Some Democrats wanted to increase the debt ceiling by a larger amount or scrap it altogether,” wrote CNBC’s Jacob Pramuk in an article examining the raising of the debt ceiling in 2021. 

If the United States doesn’t raise its debt limit to meet its obligations, then it could throw the entire world economy into chaos and recession. 

“Look at what happened in 2011 during a debt-ceiling standoff,” wrote the CBC’s Alexander Panetta, “the mere talk of a potential U.S. debt default caused the first credit downgrade in American history, which wiped seven percent from the stock market in one day.”

Will Biden be able to save the country from default again? Or will America default on its debt obligations for the first time in the country's 245-year history?