The Debt-deficit-US Credit Crisis

[American Patriot]

I'm noticing not a lot of posts on this subject.

So, here's one.

Basically, we have the Left saying "We can't CUT anything, we have to spend. We have to increase our debt limit or the world will come to an end"

The Right is saying, "We can't increase our debt-credit limit until you CUT something."

I want to know why the HELL the Republicans are even "negotiating".

They should head right back to the House and start passing laws, one right after the other. Let Obama and the Senate refuse to sign or pass the Senate side to show it's the Democrats.

Put them BACK on the defensive and leave them there.

[American Patriot]

Obama, Cantor Clash in Heated Deficit Talks


Published July 14, 2011
| FoxNews.com

President Obama meets with congressional leaders regarding the debt ceiling, Wednesday, July 13, 2011. in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington.

Tensions are flaring as lawmakers return to the negotiating table Thursday, after President Obama ended the last session by dressing down House Republican Leader Eric Cantor.
"Don't call my bluff. I'm going to the American people on this," the president told Cantor, according to the GOP leader.
Democratic and Republican sources have offered several versions of the final moments of Wednesday's meeting -- by most accounts it ended on a low note, raising questions about whether negotiators can make any progress under increasing pressure to strike a deficit-reduction deal and raise the debt ceiling. A startling warning came Wednesday when credit rating agency Moody's said the U.S. government's impeccable credit rating was under review for a potential downgrade. The agency said the ongoing stalemate increased the risk of a first-ever default on the government's debt.
Leaders from each side cited the announcement from Moody's, calling on the other to give ground for the sake of avoiding fiscal calamity. But the area of agreement between the two sides seems only to have gotten smaller in the past few days.
One Republican aide told Fox News that negotiators are "walking back" the value of proposed spending cuts -- from $2 trillion to $1.5 trillion. Cantor apparently tried to suggest negotiators strike a short-term deal considering the distance between the two sides, but Obama shut that idea down.
According to sources, Obama said "enough is enough," arguing forcefully for revenue increases to achieve the deficit reduction sought by the GOP.
"I've reached my limit. This may bring my presidency down, but I will not yield on this," Obama said, before walking out.
"He became very agitated," Cantor said. He called the president's exit from the talks "abrupt," and added that the two sides are "very far apart right now."
But one House Democrat called Cantor's account "completely overblown," saying the Virginia Republican "rudely interrupted the president three times" while Obama was concluding the meeting.
Cantor disputed that claim.
Meanwhile, one Democratic aide called the meeting "tense but constructive."
As negotiators clash, some are talking about the possibility of an extra round of talks this weekend at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.
Lawmakers are no doubt concerned about the latest warning from Moody's, which cited "the possibility that the debt limit will not be raised in time to prevent a missed payment of interest or principal" and, in turn, "a small but rising risk of a short-lived default."
Moody's said such a turn of events would make the United States' AAA rating "no longer" appropriate.
A downgrade means the Treasury likely would have to pay higher interest rates to borrow -- higher rates that could ripple over into interest rates for mortgages, car loans and business loans.
The Treasury Department, which has set Aug. 2 as the deadline for raising the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling to avoid a possible default, said, "Moody's assessment is a timely reminder of the need for Congress to move quickly to avoid defaulting on the country's obligations and agree upon a substantial deficit-reduction package."
Despite several weeks of negotiations, the White House and Republicans leaders have not been able to strike a deal to rein in government spending while increasing the nation's borrowing limit.
Democrats have insisted on raising new revenues in any deal that would include deep spending cuts. But Republicans are adamantly opposed to any tax increases, even if it is limited to closing tax loopholes for the wealthiest Americans.
Republicans are now debating whether to get behind Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's backup plan which would make it easier for Obama to obtain a debt ceiling increase -- but also risk the possibility of failing to enact spending cuts.

[American Patriot]

closed door meetings. Idiotic.

Put that shit out there for everyone to see. Stop debating in private on this.

[American Patriot]

House of Representatives

Dems Call Cantor 'Childish' as Patience Runs Thin in Tense Deficit Talks


Published July 14, 2011
| FoxNews.com

AP
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, right, accompanied by House Speaker John Boehner, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill July 12.

Eric Cantor's simmering insistence on avoiding tax hikes has boiled to a political tempest in Washington's debt negotiations, infuriating Democrats who are now labeling the majority leader as "childish" and forcing Republicans to insist there's no rift between House Speaker John Boehner and his top deputy.
Cantor's steadfast refusal to raise taxes as part of a deal to increase the nation's $14.3 trillion debt limit has earned him praise from the Tea Party wing of his own party, but the scorn of Democrats, who are demanding the No. 2 House Republican be booted from negotiations.
"Eric Cantor has shown that he shouldn't even be at the table and Republicans agree he shouldn't be at the table," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on the chamber's floor Thursday.
"Boehner needs to rein him in, and let the grown-ups get to work," added a House Democratic source who called Cantor "juvenile."
During talks Wednesday evening at the White House, Cantor earned a sharp rebuke from the president, according to sources, for suggesting that the parties agree to a short-term deal since the two sides couldn't find sufficient common ground.
Obama shut Cantor down, those sources revealed, saying "enough is enough" and telling him, "Don't call my bluff." One source said the president, before walking out of the room, told Cantor he "will not yield" on his push for revenue increases and will take it to the American people for support.
But Cantor, who described the president's departure as testy, and others pushed back on descriptions he was impudent in his insistence.
"I never interrupted the president, and in fact was deferential," Cantor said.
Cantor's role is risky. As ratings agencies warn the country's sterling credit rating could be in jeopardy if there's no deal by the Aug. 2 deadline set by the administration as the drop-dead date, Cantor is being singled out for slowing things down, endangering the nation's credit-worthiness.
Throughout the finger-pointing, Cantor and other Republicans have made every effort to downplay the perception of friction between the No. 2 Republican and the more flexible speaker who allegedly had been nearer to a deal with Democrats before talks grew increasingly tense this week.
In Cantor's daily missive, his office said the GOP leader is pushing to reach a package that meets "the speaker's call" for spending cuts equal to the size of the debt ceiling increase, without tax increases.
Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus told Fox News on Wednesday that party leaders are all on the same page.
Cantor spokeswoman Laena Fallon suggested that Reid and others are calling out the GOP leader because he is fighting against those who want to set back the economy by raising taxes and not cutting spending.
"This isn't a question about personalities -- Eric, President Obama or Harry Reid -- it's about doing what is right for the country and trying to find a productive solution that finally demonstrates Washington is serious about America's fiscal health," Fallon said in an email.
As negotiators prepare to resume talks at the White House Thursday, the environment for good-faith -- and more importantly, speedy -- negotiations appears to be eroding.
"I myself am almost too busy to continue listening to some of the things that are going on in that room," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday, while praising Obama for having "more patience than Job."
"There's really only one person who has not made any concessions of all the eight ... nine in that room, and that is Majority Leader Cantor. He is basically standing in the way and it's a shame," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said.
But negotiators are trying to chart the next step, including possibility holding of an extra round of talks this weekend at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.
Pelosi showed little enthusiasm about that prospect, noting that leaders and their staff already are devoting many hours each day to these meetings.
"The only place I hope he doesn't ask us to go is Camp David," she said.
A senior House GOP source also said Boehner has told Obama he sees no need to go to Camp David.

[American Patriot]

White House challenges GOP in deficit talks

By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY

Updated 6/28/2011 2:58 AM |
246 | 11 Share



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WASHINGTON — President Obama challenged Republicans on Monday to take on some of their "sacred cows" as budget talks aimed at preventing an unprecedented government default focused on tax increases and Medicare reductions.

• By Carolyn Kaster, AP
  President Obama speaks to reporters after a meeting with House Speaker John Boehner.

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By Carolyn Kaster, AP
President Obama speaks to reporters after a meeting with House Speaker John Boehner.






The president met separately with the Senate's Republican and Democratic leaders in what signaled the start of critical head-to-head negotiations aimed at cutting more than $2trillion from federal deficits over the coming decade.
To reach that figure, Obama is insisting that tax breaks and subsidies benefiting specific industries and individuals be eliminated — something Republicans thus far have refused to consider.
"Democrats and the administration have shown themselves willing to take on tough issues and make tough choices, and it's important that Republicans are willing to do the same, to take on some of their sacred cows," White House press secretary Jay Carney said.
Unless Republicans agree to some tax increases and Democrats agree to major reductions in Medicare, they won't produce the $2 trillion-plus in savings the GOP has demanded in exchange for a similar boost in the government's borrowing authority. The savings would accrue over 10 years; the borrowing would last only about 18 months.
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Without an increase in borrowing authority, the government is projected to reach its debt limit on Aug. 2. If the Treasury Department was forced to renege on payments to contractors, taxpayers, beneficiaries or investors, it could represent a first-ever default.
For that reason, the talks between Obama and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky — as well as Obama's discussions with Republican House Speaker John Boehner — have become a high-stakes game of chicken with the full faith and credit of the government at risk.
Carney went so far as to call Republican budget proposals "immoral" because they would slash spending for the middle class, seniors and disabled while leaving tax breaks for "millionaires and billionaires."
McConnell refused to consider tax increases. In a Senate speech, he said the 35% increase over two years in the $14.3 trillion debt was caused by spending that "has spiraled completely out of control."
"The big-government policies of the past two years have to change," he said. "It's time Washington take the hit, not the taxpayers."
After meeting with Obama in the morning, however, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said the talks should focus on creating jobs.
"I hope my Republican colleagues will put the economy ahead of politics," Reid said. "I hope they will join us to create jobs and set aside their desire to please the Tea Party and defeat President Obama."
As the rhetoric flew, both sides acknowledged that progress towards a deal has been made. That's because a group headed by Vice President Biden found nearly $1.5 trillion in projected 10-year savings they could agree on if the major issues could be resolved.
Among the areas of potential agreement:
•A four- to five-year freeze in domestic spending subject to annual congressional approval. This would not include entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
•Defense spending cuts, partly based on Obama's plan to reduce the number of troops serving in Afghanistan.
•Ending federal payments to farmers with net income above $250,000.
•Basing federal workers' pensions on their top five years of income, rather than three years.
•Requiring some participants in TRICARE, the military health care system, to pay more in deductibles and co-payments.
"They haven't come to grips with the big issues," says Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a budget watchdog group. "The low-hanging fruit is good, but you eventually have to get to the top of the tree."

[American Patriot]

Focus of debt talks to narrow without deal by Friday, sources say

By Alan Silverleib and Tom Cohen, CNN
July 14, 2011 2:20 p.m. EDT




Tense moments at debt ceiling talks



STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Raising the debt ceiling will be the focus if a debt-cut pact isn't reached by Friday, Jay Carney says
• NEW: Speaker Boehner, R-Ohio, insists there is no division between himself and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia
• Moody's puts the U.S. bond rating under review
• The United States must raise its $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by August 2 or risk a default

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama and congressional negotiators will have to end their long-term deficit reduction talks and focus solely on finding a way to raise the federal debt ceiling if they fail to reach an agreement on spending cuts and tax hikes by Friday, according to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.
Obama told negotiators Wednesday that he had set Friday as a deadline to decide whether a broad agreement on debt reduction is feasible, Democratic officials said.
The president is scheduled to meet behind closed doors at the White House with top congressional leaders on Thursday afternoon -- the fifth straight day of talks.
Administration officials have warned that a failure to raise the current $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by August 2 could trigger a partial default. If Washington lacks the money to pay its bills, interest rates could skyrocket and the value of the dollar could decline, among other things.
The seriousness of the situation was reinforced Wednesday when Moody's Investors Services -- a major rating agency -- said it would put the sterling bond rating of the United States on review for possible downgrade. Moody's said it had initiated the review because of "the rising possibility" that Congress will fail to raise the debt ceiling in time.
A default "would be a calamitous outcome," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told members of the Senate Banking Committee Thursday morning. "It would create a very severe financial shock that would have effects not only on the U.S. economy but the global economy."
"It would be a self-inflicted wound," Bernanke stressed.
Debt talks end with tense exchange
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Pelosi: 'The U.S. will pay its bills'
Obama warned earlier this week he cannot guarantee that older Americans will receive their Social Security checks next month if a deal is not reached. GOP leaders accused the president of using scare tactics.
For their part, Republicans promised Thursday to renew the GOP's push for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, arguing that it's necessary to achieve fiscal stability.
"We refuse to let this president use the threat of a debt limit deadline to get us to cave on tax hikes or phony spending cuts," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky.
"It's time to make it clear to the American people where the two parties stand in this debate. Either you're with the president and his vision of a government that continues to live beyond its means, or you're with those of us who believe Washington needs some strong medicine."
Others said the whole debate is a sad reflection of an increasingly dysfunctional political process.
"I am very disappointed in the United States Senate," said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee. "I am very disappointed in the White House. I am very disappointed in all of us. I am very disappointed in the childish behavior that this body has continued to exude over the course of this entire year."
Wednesday's negotiations ended on a tense note. Obama said the extended political wrangling and apparent lack of progress confirmed what the public considers to be the worst of Washington, according to Democratic sources familiar with the talks who spoke on condition of not being identified.
"This could bring my presidency down," Obama reportedly said, referring to his pledge to veto any short-term extension of the debt ceiling -- a move suggested by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virgina. But "I will not yield on this."
Obama has insisted on one deal that will raise the amount of money the government can borrow to sufficient levels to last through 2012 -- after his campaign for re-election.
Cantor claimed Obama became "very agitated" on the state of the talks and said "something's gotta give."
Obama called for Republicans to compromise on either their insistence that a debt-ceiling hike must be matched dollar-for-dollar by spending cuts or on their opposition to any kind of tax increase, Cantor said.
"And he said to me, 'Eric, don't call my bluff.' He said 'I'm going to the American people with this,'" Cantor quoted Obama as saying.
"I was somewhat taken aback," Cantor said.
Democratic sources provided a different take on the exchange, saying Obama cut off Cantor at the end of the two-hour meeting after the GOP leader dumped his previously held position against a short-term extension.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said Thursday that "Cantor has shown he shouldn't even be at the table, and Republicans agree he shouldn't be at the table."
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• Eric Cantor
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Reid is "frustrated," Cantor replied. But "we're going to abide by our principles."
For his part, Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, downplayed reports of a split between himself and Cantor. Some analysts have speculated that Cantor, viewed in some circles as more conservative than Boehner, may be using the crisis to undermine GOP support for the speaker.
"We're in the foxhole" together, Boehner told reporters. "I'm glad Eric's there."
With time dwindling down, Democrats and Republicans remain at sharp odds over how to proceed. Obama has indicated a preference for a "grand bargain" that would save up to $4 trillion over the next decade through a combination of spending cuts, raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans and reforming politically popular entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
GOP leaders remain adamantly opposed to any tax hikes, arguing that increasing the burden on "job creators" now would derail what has already proven to be, at best, a shaky economic recovery.
On Tuesday, McConnell unveiled what he characterized as a last-ditch plan to avert a default if negotiators can't reach an agreement. The Republican leader proposed three short-term increases in the amount the government can borrow while at the same time registering the disapproval of Congress for such a move.
McConnell's proposal would give Obama power to raise the debt ceiling by a total of $2.5 trillion, but also would require three congressional votes on the issue before the 2012 general election. The president would be required to identify spending cuts equivalent to each debt ceiling increase, though there would be no guarantee Congress would adopt the proposed cuts.
Some congressional Democrats have promised to consider the plan, despite Obama's opposition to any short-term extension. The plan's prospects are also uncertain, however, in the Republican-controlled House. Some conservatives have said the McConnell plan amounts to a capitulation to the Democrats.
McConnell asserted Wednesday his proposal became necessary because an acceptable deficit reduction deal was proving unattainable and the country has to avoid a default that would be "bad for Republicans."
"Given a choice between a bad deal and avoiding default, I choose to avoid default," McConnell said. "If we were to go into default ... the practical effect of that will be to allow the president to make us co-owners of a bad economy."
Boehner refused to dismiss McConnell's plan Thursday, calling it a fallback option that "may be worthy at some point."
Consideration of a fallback option has gained more attention over the last couple of days in part because of the GOP's refusal to budge on taxes.
At the heart of Obama's call for more tax revenue would be allowing tax cuts from the Bush presidency to expire at the end of 2012 for families making more than $250,000. His plan would keep the lower tax rates for Americans who earn less.
Obama noted earlier this week he is not looking to raise any taxes until 2013 or later. He claimed he has "bent over backward to work with the Republicans" and not force them to vote on any revenue hikes in the short term -- a politically toxic move for the GOP's conservative base.
In exchange, Obama said, he wants to ensure that the current progressive nature of the tax code is maintained, with higher-income Americans assessed higher tax rates.
Republicans continue to insist such a move would be economically disastrous.

[American Patriot]

Obama is using scare tactics.

The Democrats are using scare tactics.

The Republicans are following what they were sent there to do, shut down excess spending.

Obama and the Senate could have worked on this months ago (along with the House, when they had control). They didn't.

[American Patriot]

John Boehner: Keep Mitch McConnell's plan on table

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John Boehner wants to keep the Senate minority leader's plan open as an option. | AP Photo Close



By SEUNG MIN KIM | 7/14/11 2:24 PM EDT
Speaker John Boehner on Thursday left the door open to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s last-ditch plan to raise the debt limit.
“I think it’s worth keeping on the table,” Boehner said.
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McConnell’s plan would give President Barack Obama the power to raise the debt ceiling three times through 2012, unless Congress stops it with a two-thirds majority vote. Under that plan, Republicans could vote against raising the debt ceiling without risking default.
“What may look like something less of an optimal today, if we’re unable to get to an agreement, might look good a couple of weeks from now,” the Ohio Republican told reporters on Thursday.
When asked whether there are votes in the House for McConnell’s proposal, Boehner said: “I have no idea.”
His remarks came during a press conference when 10 House Republicans talked up the balanced-budget amendment that the House is scheduled to vote on July 20. During the conference, Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) also tried to downplay notions of a rift between the leaders.
“The speaker and I have consistently been on the same page,” Cantor said.
Boehner, at that point, joined Cantor at the podium, putting his arm around his No. 2 as reporters laughed.
“Let me just say, we have been in this fight together,” Boehner said. “Any suggestion that the role that Eric has played in these meetings has been anything less than helpful is just wrong. We’re in the foxhole.”



Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories...#ixzz1S6kZQ6vA

[vector7]

'Enough Is Enough,' Obama Says, Calling for Deal

Thursday, July 14, 2011 06:10 AM



WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid new warnings and fresh signs of strain, President Barack Obama and congressional leaders are entering a perilous debt-limit endgame. The president, declaring "enough is enough," is demanding that budget negotiators find common ground by week's end even as the Senate's top Republican gained followers for his own last-ditch scheme to avoid a government default.

The continuing impasse was unsettling Wall Street, which up to now had performed as if an increase in the debt ceiling was not in doubt. And the looming Aug. 2 cutoff for action was creating new tensions between the president and Republican leaders.

Moody's Investors Service said Wednesday it will review the government's credit rating, noting there is a small but rising risk that the government will default on its debt. If Moody's were to lower the ratings, the consequences would ripple through the economy, pushing up rates for mortgages, car loans and other debts. A Chinese rating agency, Dagong Global Credit Rating Co., also warned of a possible downgrade.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, addressing lawmakers, warned Wednesday that not increasing the nation's debt ceiling and allowing the nation default on its debt would send "shock waves through the entire financial system."

And in the cauldron of the White House Cabinet Room, Obama and top lawmakers bargained for nearly two hours Wednesday on spending cuts. Obama curtly ended the session when House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., urged Obama to accept a short, monthslong increase in debt instead of one that would last through next year's presidential election.

"Enough is enough. ... I'll see you all tomorrow," Obama said, rising from the negotiating table and leaving the room, according to several officials familiar with the session.

The United States hit its current $14.3 trillion debt ceiling in May and the Obama administration says the government will default on its obligations if the debt limit is not increased by Aug. 2. For a new debt ceiling to last to the end of 2012 would require raising it by about $2.4 trillion.

Republicans, in control of the House of Representatives in part because of the support of tea party activists, say they will not vote to raise the limit if Obama doesn't agree to at least an equal amount of deficit reductions over 10 years.

Obama and the top eight House and Senate leaders met for the fourth time in as many days Wednesday, and, despite the tense ending, agreed to meet again Thursday. Cantor, speaking to reporters after the meeting broke up, said the White House had been lowering the amount of spending cuts it would put on the table, offering less than $1.4 trillion over 10 years, mostly in domestic and defense spending outside of the major benefits programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

The White House argued that the total was closer to $1.7 trillion over 10 years when counting about $240 billion in reduced interest payments from the lowered debt.

Earlier, in comments to a small group of reporters before the White House session, House Speaker John Boehner complained that negotiating with the White House "the last couple months has been like dealing with Jell-O."

Democratic officials have portrayed the White House as the more flexible party in the negotiations, willing to cut cherished programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, provided Republicans agree to some increases in revenue. Thursday's meeting was to focus on spending cuts in the two health care programs and on new tax revenue.

With talks reaching a critical stage without real breakthroughs, some Republican and Democratic lawmakers were looking at a plan proposed by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell that would give Obama new powers to overcome Republican opposition to raise the debt ceiling.

The proposal would place the burden on Obama to win debt ceiling increases up to three times, provided he was able to override congressional vetoes — a threshold Obama could manage to overcome even without a single Republican vote and without massive spending cuts. Conservatives promptly criticized the plan for giving up the leverage to reduce deficits. But the plan raised the prospect of combining it with some of the spending cuts already identified by the White House in order to win support from conservatives in the House.

In an interview with radio talk-show host Laura Ingraham, McConnell described his plan in stark political terms, warning fellow conservatives that failure to raise the debt limit would probably ensure Obama's re-election in 2012. He predicted that a default would allow Obama to argue that Republicans were making the economy worse.

"You know, it's an argument he has a good chance of winning, and all of a sudden we (Republicans) have co-ownership of a bad economy," McConnell said. "That is a very bad positioning going into an election."

The proposal won praise from two disparate points in the political spectrum — Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

"I am heartened by what I read," Reid said. "This is a serious proposal. And I commend the Republican leader for coming forward."

McConnell's plan was even winning some consideration in the White House. Democratic officials said that even as Obama confronted Cantor and Boehner in Wednesday's meeting, he commended McConnell.

"Sen. McConnell at least has put forth a proposal," a Democratic official quoted the president as saying. "It doesn't reduce the deficit and that's what we have to do. It just deals with the debt limit. Now Sen. McConnell wants me to wear the jacket for that."

The officials said Obama went on to say they all had a responsibility to find a compromise.

[American Patriot]

So the UK thinks this is BS....

Scrap the stupid debt ceiling law

A bogus debate on the borrowing limit is distorting the economic conversation in the United States

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• Jim Newell
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 14 July 2011 18.33 BST
• Article history Barack Obama talks with the Republican majority leader Eric Cantor after a meeting with bipartisan congressional leadership at the White House. Photograph: The White House/Getty Images
  
  The world should have taken much better precautions to child-proof the global financial system when the new House Republican majority swept into power this year. It didn't take long for this chest-thumping wave of brats to sniff out the dangerous products kept unguarded under the sink. Now they've doused the economy in flammables, are standing above it with a match, demanding quick multi-trillion dollar cuts to everything.
  The debt ceiling is a statutory law that, in modern times, needs to be passed to meet the outlays to which the federal government has already committed. Not doing so, in the midst of the worst economy since the Great Depression, would only allow the government to meet about 60% of its obligations until a partial default, lowering the credit rating of the safest investment in the world – US Treasury bonds, to which the reserves of a great many financial contracts are linked. So a hike in the ceiling really should be passed. But it might not be! Yet it needs to be? It still may not!
  This is when you know that an old law that doesn't jibe well with the modern workings of society needs to be destroyed.
  Congresses past have understood the significance of playing chicken with the nation's credit rating. They've maintained an informal pact to raise it when approached. The minority party could vote against it to embarrass or show disapproval to the majority, sure, but believe me: the votes needed to pass this one-line bill changing a number to an arbitrary figure some billions or trillions in the distance would always be there.
  Now that precedent has been crushed. Let's consider the effect that this political extortion of a silly law designed to "remind us" of our debts is having on national policies.
  The focus on this artificial borrowing limit has distorted the economic conversation in the United States from where it should be – on the stalled, if not receding, economy. The fact that we need to pass what is essentially a legislative form letter that's reset at a random number every couple of years, but now can't until House majority leader Eric Cantor has gotten all of his whining out, has focused all policymaking concerns around massive, hastily considered deficit reduction.
  This is happening while ten-year Treasury yields are hovering near historic lows of 3%, monetary policy is trapped at the zero bound, the housing market is still in the critical care unit, long-term unemployment is worse than it was during the Depression, the official unemployment rate is 9.2%, Europe is imploding, household debt levels are still years away from anything approaching comfortable, trillions of dollars in backlogged infrastructure projects are waiting for cash, and... well, you look at the news! Pick your horrific economic indicator of choice, and cringe.
  This is what recently departed White House economist Jared Bernstein referred to this week as the opportunity costs of the debt ceiling debate: "Every legislative moment spent figuring out how to game the debt ceiling is not being spent preventing" the economy from re-collapsing.
  "Eliminating the debt ceiling" is not a popular phrase for politicians to use on the campaign trail. Oh well! Better get to work on changing that perception then, hmm? Because politicians created this problem themselves with years of cynical lies – that the "debt ceiling" is under any circumstances a thing that should not be raised when approached – to pander to angry voters. But now the good faith in Congress has been lost, and we're forced to treat this dumb, fake law, one that's comprehensively warped our national economic priorities beyond the surreal, with all the seriousness usually reserved for things that actually matter.
  Let's tether our debt-reduction debates to something more natural – like an improving economy with rising interest rates. Members of Congress won't need a random number to "remind" them of anything.
  Jim Newell is a staff writer covering politics for Gawker.com

[American Patriot]

CNN thinks the public thinks it's stupid (the GOP).

Republican tax stand a bust with public

By Charles Riley @CNNMoney July 14, 2011: 2:03 PM ET Rep. Eric Cantor has led GOP opposition to revenue increases.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- House Republicans who refuse to consider tax increases as part of a debt ceiling deal are out of step with most Americans, according to two new polls.
That's bad news for Republicans who are betting the farm on resisting Democratic efforts to raise taxes on the rich.

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When looking to reduce debt, politicians can employ two tactics. The first is to cut spending. The second is to raise taxes. Most budget experts say you need to do both.
But House Republicans -- an overwhelming majority of whom have signed a pledge to this effect -- refuse to consider any kind of tax increase, not matter who it hits.
Turns out, most Americans don't share their conviction.
A full 67% of Americans favor a deal to raise the debt ceiling that includes taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations, according to a poll released Thursday by Quinnipiac University.
And according to Gallup, only 20% of Americans want a deal that consists only of spending cuts. That's the position of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and many of his colleagues.
Instead, most Americans want the deal to include a mix of spending cuts and tax increases, something that is much closer to the bargaining position staked out by Democrats.
What kind of tax increases are being discussed?
Debt ceiling: Investors acting like ostriches?

The White House wants to close loopholes that benefit the owners of private jets, and raise taxes on hedge fund managers who pay lower tax rates on so-called "carried interest."
Additional proposals would change how business inventory is taxed, eliminate government subsidies for oil and gas companies and limit deductions taken by the wealthiest Americans.
Closing those loopholes would raise a relatively modest amount of revenue, especially compared to the monster spending cuts that are on the table.
But because the elimination of those tax breaks would result in higher taxes, Republicans are bound to oppose them by an anti-tax pledge designed by Grover Norquist, president and founder of Americans for Tax Reform, that nearly all of them have signed.
Republicans say that raising taxes inhibits economic growth, arguing that increasing the burden on "job creators" now would derail what has already proven to be, at best, a shaky economic recovery.
So far, House Republicans, led by Cantor, have stuck by their guns. Cantor walked out of negotiations with Vice President Joe Biden last month after Democrats "continue to insist that any deal must include tax increases."
Not much progress has been made since. On Wednesday, Cantor reiterated GOP opposition to higher taxes.
S&P official warns of pre-default downgrade

But another consideration is starting to creep into the political calculus as the Aug. 2 deadline to raise the debt ceiling approaches: Fear of being blamed for a default.
For historical perspective, Republicans have only to look to 1995, when Newt Gingrich stood firm against former President Bill Clinton and briefly caused a government shutdown.
Clinton was able to blame Republicans for the economic peril, a move many observers say helped him win re-election.
Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, said Wednesday that he doesn't want to repeat that particular piece of history.
"The reason default is no better idea today than when Newt Gingrich tried it in 1995, is it ... would give the president an opportunity to blame Republicans for a bad economy," he told conservative radio host Laura Ingraham.
"If we go into default, he [Obama] will say Republicans are making the economy worse," McConnell said. "And all of the sudden, we have co-ownership of the economy. That is a very bad position going into the election."

(In fact, nearly 76% of the public thinks we can't go on like this.) - of course I made that number up....

[American Patriot]

Campaign 2012, Economy, Politics, President Obama
Romney yields no ground to Obama over debt talks

E-mail| Print | Comments (9) July 14, 2011 2:04 PM
By Shira Schoenberg, Globe Correspondent
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave no ground to compromise today when asked about the continuing negotiations between President Obama and Congress over raising the federal debt ceiling.
“The answer for the country is for the president to agree to cut federal spending, to cap federal spending, and to put in place a balanced budget amendment,” Romney told more than 100 people at a Rotary Club luncheon. “It’s the answer for the debt limit and for the nation.”
Republicans in Congress have been debating different proposals that could allow the country to raise the debt ceiling, with some cuts to federal spending.
Romney did not mention any of the specific proposals but said if the president agreed to cut spending and pass a balanced budget amendment, then “the debt issue disappears.”
Federal spending is divided between 60 percent entitle payments, 20 percent defense spending, and the remaining 20 percent for all other discretionary programs, Romney explained.
“If we want to balance the budget, we need to find a way to get the entitlement portion on a sustainable rate of growth so it doesn’t continue to eat up the entire economy,” he said.
Romney said if he were president, he would work with Democrats to get things accomplished – similar to the way he worked with Democratic legislative leaders in Massachusetts.
“I made it a practice not to attack my legislative leaders on a personal basis,” he said.
The comments on the debt ceiling came in response to audience questions; Romney has been accused by some of his GOP rivals of skirting the debt issue, a charge the candidate and his staff have disputed.
Romney used most his speech to appeal to the gathering of business leaders as a fellow businessman who understands the needs of businesses.
“I was a businessman for 25 years, a politician for only four and I didn’t inhale,” he quipped. Romney served as governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007, but he ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate in 1994 and president in 2008, and has been campaigning ever since either for himself or other Republican candidates.
He also is the son of a three-term Michigan governor.
During a day’s worth of appearances across the first presidential primary state, Romney also planned to visit RSA Realty in Rochester, a company owned by former New Hampshire State Representative Packy Campbell.
He was a 2008 town chairman for John McCain who has endorsed Romney in the current campaign. Romney featured Campbell in a web video released today, in which Campbell echoed a point Romney has been making continuously – that government interference under President Obama has hurt the economy.
According to Campbell, RSA Realty shrunk from 35 employees to two over the last three years. He filed for personal bankruptcy.
During an interview, Campbell said the business was devastated by the economy, since no one is building new homes and people are delaying buying and selling. Campbell said he believes the impact of Obama’s federal health care overhaul and the high government spending creates uncertainty.
“No one has confidence about believing in government,” Campbell said.
In related news, Romney’s campaign today announced the endorsement of New Hampshire first-term State Senator Jim Rausch, who planned to introduce Romney at a Derry town hall meeting this evening.
Rausch is the third of the state’s 24 state senators to endorse Romney, but rival Tim Pawlenty announced today that Romney’s 2008 New Hampshire campaign chairman, Bruce Keough, had decided to endorse the former Minnesota governor.
The New Hampshire and Alabama Democratic Parties also chose today to add additional information to a previously filed complaint with the Federal Election Commission, alleging that Romney is circumventing campaign financing laws by using state political action committees with looser regulations to raise amounts of money above federal limits.
The Globe first reported in April that Romney used state political action committees such as one in Alabama to collect checks that exceeded federal contribution limits, then transferred that money to his federal PAC, in a strategy that was legal but controversial.
Later that month, the New Hampshire Democratic Party filed a complaint alleging that because the money was used for overhead like staff salaries, rather than state expenses, it should be subject to federal campaign contribution limits.
The amended complaint makes the same claim with new evidence. It also alleges new violations under campaign finance laws that only apply to candidates who have officially declared their candidacy – which Romney had not when the original complaint was filed.
Shira Schoenberg can be reached at sschoenberg@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @shiraschoenberg.

[American Patriot]

	"Republicans will not be reduced to being tax collectors for the Obama economy," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. more by Mitch McConnell - 1 hour ago - USA Today (22 occurrences)

[American Patriot]

Cantor on Obama: No disrespect intended

By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press
Posted: 07/14/2011 11:56:36 AM PDT


WASHINGTON—House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says he didn't mean any disrespect to President Barack Obama during a heated exchange that ended with the president cutting off a White House meeting. The Virginia Republican told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that he was only trying to find a way to agree on spending cuts that his party insists be part of any deal to raise the nation's debt ceiling by Aug. 2.
He spoke after Majority Leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor that Cantor doesn't belong in the sensitive high-level White House talks. Cantor said that he tries to be as respectful as he can, and hasn't changed since Reid thanked him for his honesty in an earlier meeting.
The talks resume Thursday at the White House.

[American Patriot]

White House asks GOP to go for the 'holy grail' in deficit package


By Sam Youngman - 07/14/11 02:28 PM ET
With deficit reduction talks mired in tension and division, the White House's top spokesman challenged Republicans Thursday to go for the “holy grail" and push for the biggest deal possible.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said that despite reports of heated exchanges in Wednesday afternoon's meeting between congressional negotiators, the president would on Thursday continue to ask Republicans to do something "generational."






"That agreement is right here," Carney said. "It's on the table. You just have to be willing to reach for it."Carney repeatedly challenged Republicans during the daily press briefing to lead and not posture for "narrow constituencies within your own party."
Despite White House optimism that the parties are inching closer to a deal, the clock is ticking closer to the Aug. 2 deadline set by the Treasury Department for raising the debt ceiling.
House Republicans claimed debt-ceiling negotiations at the White House ended in acrimony Wednesday when President Obama warned House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) not to call his bluff about rejecting a short-term increase in the debt ceiling. Cantor said Obama then “abruptly” walked out of the meeting.
A Democratic source said the reports of a dramatic walk-out by Obama were overblown, but the source acknowledged that once the president “said what he was going to say, he got up and walked out.”
Despite the tensions, Carney said that the "holy grail" of think tanks, good government groups and members of both parties is within reach if leaders will compromise and seize the opportunity to rein in the deficit.
Lawmakers are scheduled to reconvene at 4:15 at the White House to continue the talks. Carney acknowledged that he is "not expecting today a Hallelujah moment" in the negotiations.
Carney also refused to join Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in calling for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to be kicked out of the talks.
"The president believes that we have to reach a deal with the leaders of Congress of both parties," Carney said. "What's important is that everybody decides to play the role of leader."

[American Patriot]

Obama warns Cantor: 'Don't call my bluff'


By Russell Berman and Sam Youngman - 07/13/11 07:43 PM ET
Republicans said tense negotiations over raising the $14.3 trillion debt limit at the White House ended when President Obama stormed out of the meeting with a stern warning to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.): “Don’t call my bluff.”
“It ended with the president abruptly walking out of the meeting,” Cantor told reporters upon returning to the Capitol Wednesday.






Democrats immediately disputed the GOP account, saying Obama had sought to end a meeting when Cantor interrupted him to get a final word. “No. Absolutely not,” Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told The Hill in a brief interview when asked about Cantor’s description.A Democratic source familiar with the negotiations said the reports of a dramatic or abrupt walk-out by Obama were overblown, but the source acknowledged that the president “said what he was going to say, he got up and walked out.”
“The climax of the meeting was the president basically saying ‘what’s happening in this room confirms what everybody across the country thinks about Washington, D.C.,’” the official said. “Which is that people are more interested in protecting their base and political positioning than solving problems.”
The differing accounts came after the fourth day of White House debt talks in a row.
Cantor said Obama became “agitated” when the House majority leader said Republicans were now open to holding two votes to increase the debt ceiling between now and the 2012 elections, which the president has rejected.
Obama said he wanted congressional leaders to decide by Friday what approach to take on the debt limit. The Treasury Department has set an Aug. 2 deadline for lifting the ceiling, and ratings agencies are warning that they will downgrade U.S. credit if Congress doesn’t act — an action that could send markets tumbling.
“We are very far apart right now,” Cantor said he told the president. “I don’t know if we can get there.”
Cantor said he asked Obama if he would consider allowing two votes on the debt ceiling to give leaders more time to negotiate additional budget savings while avoiding a calamitous default.


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“That’s when he got very agitated, seemingly, and said that he had sat there long enough, and that no other president — Ronald Reagan wouldn’t sit here like this — and that he’s reached the point where something’s got to give,” Cantor said, describing the president’s reaction.


“He said to me, ‘Eric, don’t call my bluff. I’m going to the American people with this,’ “ Cantor said. “I was somewhat taken aback,” he added, with a smile.
Democrats offered a different characterization of the meeting and the exchange, though House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told The Hill that the “gravity of the challenge” confronting negotiators “was weighing certainly on the president.”
Pelosi said she had never seen a president more gracious than Obama, whom she described as trying to end a meeting he had hosted.
“He stayed for two and a half hours and listened to what members had to say. It was his meeting and the meeting had come to an end,” she said.
“The president could not have been more gracious. I have never seen a president spend so much time with the leadership of Congress day in and day out, respectful of their concerns,” Pelosi added.
House and Senate Democrats have ripped Cantor for days, and a House Democratic leadership aide described the majority leader’s account of Wednesday’s meeting as “Cantor’s Gingrich back-of-the-plane moment” — referencing a moment in 1995 when then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) complained about being seated near the back of Air Force One and was quickly depicted in the media as a crybaby.
“Obama was concluding the meeting, giving the closing remarks and talking about meeting tomorrow, Cantor interrupted him and raised for the third time doing a short-term, and Obama shut him down,” the aide said. “Cantor was playing the role he’s been playing throughout this whole thing — being not productive.”

A GOP aide said it was “the most tense meeting of the week.”
The aide said that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) challenged Obama to offer real spending cuts and to stop using budget gimmicks.
“We’re not doing that anymore,” Boehner said, according to the aide.
Despite the tension, Obama and the Republicans did seem to find common ground on about $1.7 trillion in cuts over 10 years, cuts that were identified during talks led by Vice President Biden.
“And we’re willing to go further than that,” the Democratic official said. “It’s a pretty clear indication of how far the president has come in terms of his willingness to come off his maximalist position.”
The leaders are scheduled to return to the White House again at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday afternoon to discuss mandatory spending, revenues and triggers, the source said.
Hoyer echoed Pelosi in saying Obama had tried to be flexible, but said there was “great difficulty” in trying to find a compromise.
“We had a pretty fulsome discussion on the specifics that the White House was prepared to agree to, or at least that they thought were options that were viable,” Hoyer said in an interview shortly after the meeting at the White House.
Hoyer added that “no decisions were made.”
Alexander Bolton, Molly K. Hooper and Erik Wasson contributed to this story.

[American Patriot]

Ron Paul to run ads criticizing GOP on debt-ceiling compromise


By Cameron Joseph - 07/14/11 10:00 AM ET
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) will run television advertisements in Iowa and New Hampshire criticizing his party's leaders for considering a compromise on raising the debt ceiling.

The stylized advertisement, which looks more like a movie trailer than the standard political ad, calls the debt-ceiling debate a "defining moment" for America.







"Will our party's leaders repeat the mistakes of the past?" asks the ad's narrator. "Will they choose compromise — or conviction?"The ad goes on to describe Paul as "standing up to the Washington machine, guided by principle."

Paul campaign manager Jesse Benton said the campaign had purchased six-figure ad buys in both states, and that the advertisements would run statewide on broadcast television as well as cable from Friday through the next week.

Benton said Paul thought that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)'s debt plan was "horrible," both because it gives the president more power at the expense of congressional authority and because it would allow President Obama to raise the debt ceiling.

[American Patriot]

Ron Paul's new TV ad opposes raising debt limit
By CHRIS TOMLINSON, Associated Press – 4 hours ago
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul is using his first campaign television ad to promote his long-time opposition to raising the federal debt limit.
In the ad released Thursday and set to run in early primary states, the Texas congressman criticizes both Republicans and Democrats for striking deals in the past and says Congress should not compromise this time. Paul also notes that he always has voted against raising the federal limit on borrowing.
"In the '80s, they did it to (Ronald) Reagan, a debt ceiling compromise, Democrats promising spending cuts, but delivering only tax hikes," the ad says. "The '90s brought more compromises, more broken promises and more new taxes. ... Will our party's leaders repeat the mistakes of the past?"
President Barack Obama has said that if a deal to raise the debt ceiling is not passed by Aug. 2, the U.S. government could default on its loans, creating a financial crisis. Paul and some conservative Republican members of Congress reject that conclusion and have insisted on spending cuts. Negotiations are ongoing between Obama and Republican leaders in the House and Senate over a compromise that would ensure the debt ceiling is increased.
The scope of federal spending is an important issue to conservatives who make up the Republican Party's base, and Paul is seeking to use the debate raging in Washington on one of his signature issues to gain ground in his presidential campaign. He trails other candidates in national and state polls. A poll conducted for The Des Moines Register last month showed Paul running toward the back of the pack, with only 7 percent support.
The ads are to begin airing on both broadcast and cable stations in Iowa and New Hampshire on Friday and are to run through next week, said Jesse Benton, a spokesman for the Paul campaign. Benton said the campaign is spending more than $100,000 in each state. It's a hefty sum for this early in the race. Other candidates are running ads, but at much lower levels.
Paul is running for the Republican nomination for a second time. He also ran for president as a Libertarian in 1988. Reducing the federal budget and the national debt have always been his key issues.
The former obstetrician from a district south of Houston is critical of federal economic and monetary policy. His campaign themes focus on reducing both the power and scope of the federal government, increasing states' rights and abolishing both the Federal Reserve and the Internal Revenue Service.
During his failed 2008 presidential campaign, his positions put him outside the Republican mainstream and the nomination was never within his grasp, despite having enthusiastic supporters and a large campaign chest. Many consider him the ideological godfather of the tea party movement, and his views on reducing the federal budget and the national debt have become major issues in the 2012 race.

[American Patriot]

July 14, 2011 10:40 AM


Lindsey Graham: On debt limit, GOP has "nobody to blame but ourselves"

By

Lucy Madison

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) (C) speaks as (L-R) Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), Sen. John Thune (R-SC), Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) listen June 14, 2011 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
(Credit: Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Senator Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., on Wednesday lamented his party's having made such "a big deal" about its opposition to raising the debt ceiling, and conceded that now Republicans were struggling to walk back their statements. "Our problem is we made a big deal about this for three months," said Graham of the debt limit debate, according to Politico. "How many Republicans have been on TV saying, 'I'm not going to raise the debt limit'? You know, Mitch [McConnell] says, 'I'm not going to raise the debt limit unless we talk about Medicare.' And I've said I'm not going to raise the debt limit until we do something about spending and entitlements.'"
Democrats and Republicans have for weeks been engaged in tense negotiations over an agreement to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion borrowing limit, but progress has been repeatedly stalled over issues like whether or not to increase tax revenues - a matter on which neither party appears willing to budge.
Graham says now Republicans should have tempered their language early on.
"We shouldn't have said that if we didn't mean it... We've got nobody to blame but ourselves," Graham told reporters.

Graham also disputed the argument, made by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday, that Republicans couldn't vote for the debt ceiling because it would destroy the GOP "brand" and put the party at risk of being blamed "for a bad economy."
(McConnell has proposed a controversial alternative plan, which would both enable President Obama to raise the debt limit and allow Republicans to avoid voting for it. That plan, however, would not require Mr. Obama to enact any commensurate spending cuts.)
"Most people who got elected in 2010 didn't come up here worried about the brand, they came up here worried about the country," Graham said. "You go explain to them why they're wrong [when they] say that the country's on an unsustainable path. I don't think they are wrong."
Nevertheless Graham, like a handful of his fellow lawmakers, appears to be looking at McConnell's plan as a last-ditch means with which to avoid defaulting on the government's loans in the event that Republicans and Democrats are unable to agree on a compromise.
"If they can't [come to a deal], then Mitch's idea makes sense," Graham said. "But if they can pass something out of the House that raises the debt limit that changes the reason we got in debt, that would be a fundamental new direction for the country, I think we should support that."

[American Patriot]

July 12, 2011 12:30 PM


Obama says he cannot guarantee Social Security checks will go out on August 3

By

Corbett B. Daly

President Obama on Tuesday said he cannot guarantee that retirees will receive their Social Security checks August 3 if Democrats and Republicans in Washington do not reach an agreement on reducing the deficit in the coming weeks.
"I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it," Mr. Obama said in an interview with CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley, according to excerpts released by CBS News.
The Obama administration and many economists have warned of economic catastrophe if the United States does not raise the amount it is legally allowed to borrow by August 2.
Lawmakers from both parties want to use the threat of that deadline to work out a broader package on long-term deficit reduction, with Republicans looking to cut trillions of dollars in federal spending, while Democrats are pushing for a more "balanced approach," which would include both spending cuts and increased revenue through taxes.
The Debt Limit fight: A primer
Democratic and Republican lawmakers are expected to hold another round of negotiations with Mr. Obama at the White House Tuesday afternoon on long-term deficit reduction, though talks have yielded little results to date.
Mr. Obama told Pelley "this is not just a matter of Social Security checks. These are veterans checks, these are folks on disability and their checks. There are about 70 million checks that go out."
More from the interview:
Obama: Boehner "would like to do the right thing"
Obama: "Nobody can be messing with our embassy"
Video: Watch more of Obama's comments on the debt limit battle
Mr. Obama's comments followed remarks from the Senate's top Republican, who said Tuesday that he did not see a way for Republicans and Democrats to come to agreement on meaningful deficit reduction as long as Mr. Obama remains in office.
"After years of discussions and months of negotiations, I have little question that as long as this president is in the Oval Office, a real solution is probably unattainable," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said in remarks on the Senate floor.
Still, McConnell said Republicans would "do the responsible thing" to avoid default, suggesting that a deal on the debt ceiling could be reached without a "real" deficit reduction package.
"The president has presented us with three choices: smoke and mirrors, tax hikes, or default. Republicans choose none of the above. I had hoped to do good, but I refuse to do harm. So Republicans will choose a path that actually reflects the will of the people, which is to do the responsible thing and ensure that the government doesn't default on its obligations," he said.
Mr. Obama has repeatedly said he wants a deal that would allow the U.S. to avoid confronting the issue again until after the 2012 elections and vowed on Monday that he would "not sign a 30-day or a 60-day or a 90-day extension."
"This the United States of America and, you know, we don't manage our affairs in three-month increments. You know, we don't risk U.S. default on our obligations because we can't put politics aside," Mr. Obama told reporters at the White House yesterday.
Confused about the debt limit fight? Here's a primer
McConnell unveils debt "back up plan" that gives Obama more power
Pawlenty: Obama scaring people into higher taxes