The MAGA House Republicans are holding the United States hostage by refusing to pass or discuss the White House’s budget. They are playing dangerous games by pushing the country toward default. If we do not pay our debts, our international standing will decrease and it will cost us more to borrow money.

It is not in our interest to not pay our debts, and this has never been done in the history of our country. Donald Trump requested and received increases to his budget three times during his four-year presidency with the help of Democrats. So don’t let anyone tell you that it’s the Democrats’ fault.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the MAGA extremists are refusing to budget enough money to pay the country’s current bills and are instead pressuring Democrats to support cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid before passing a budget.

Once more, they are showing their disregard for those who after years of working and putting money into these institutions are counting on them when they need them the most. It is important to let our representatives know that we expect them to raise the debt limit without painful cuts that will impact us and our community. And it is important to give attention to this subject and inform others as it threatens our international standing, too.

What can we do about it? Most Democratic House Representatives are standing with President Joe Biden and have signed a letter from Reps. Annie Kuster, Brendan Boyle and Pramila Jayapal making their position clear about the urgent need to approve the budget. Here in Massachusetts, 2nd Congressional District Rep. Jim McGovern has been on board since the beginning. Please thank him by calling his Washington office (202-225-6101) or his Northampton office (413-341-8700).

Some have not made their position clear yet. Rep. Richard Neal from the 1st Congressional District has not yet signed the letter supporting President Biden’s budget. If you are in his district, please call his Washington (202-225-5601) or Springfield office (413-785-0325) and ask him to support the president’s budget by signing the letter from Reps. Kuster, Boyle and Jayapal.

If you are able to discuss this issue with constituents in Republican districts, let them know that we hope they will tell their representatives to pass a budget without painful cuts to programs such as Social Security or Medicare. These programs are helping regular people live a more decent life.

Instead, we can ensure that millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share of taxes. It’s hard to believe that MAGA Republicans will do that since House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has refused to discuss a compromise with members of Congress. Instead, his only attempt to gain support for his extreme agenda has been to go to Wall Street to convince his rich friends to support his pursuit of a debt-ceiling deal tied to budget cuts affecting popular programs for ordinary people.

Wall Street did not buy it, but he continues to seek support for his dangerous agenda to keep his job. He knows that to continue being the speaker of the House, he needs the support of the most extreme Republicans, and he seems more than happy to sacrifice the rest of us to keep his job.

Anne Louise Smallen is a member of Indivisible Northampton. 

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