Sperling said that House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) passing a bill to raise the debt limit “does not give him or really anyone the right to say that we want to have a discussion where it’s either my way or we will put the United States in default for the first time in our history. And I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to understand that saying that you want to negotiate on raising the debt is a sanitized way of saying that you want to tell the entire country that if you do not get your budget, your policy goals, you will put the United States in default for the first time in our history and potentially cause a serious recession. No one should do that, let me be clear, not Democrat or Republican, not liberal or conservative. And since 2011, everyone has understood this.”