It's getting very difficult to criticize Obama golfing as much as Tiger Woods, while the Republican get so much practice "kicking the can", they may actually beat the L.A. Galaxy in soccer. Obama states that he will not compromise over the debt ceiling. So how do republicans retaliate? They let him have his way, of course!
The Republican-led House of Representatives will hold a vote next week on the temporary measure, Majority Leader Eric Cantor announced at the end of a two-day Republican work retreat outside Washington.
The move could help defuse a fiscal time bomb that Congress and the White House face in late February with the nation hitting its debt ceiling, looming automatic federal spending cuts, and debate over the budget.
The three-month extension of US borrowing authority would buy time for the Senate to pass a non-binding budget, Cantor said.
The House has passed budgets every year of Barack Obama's presidency, but the Senate has not passed one for four years.
Should they fail to approve a budget by April 15, the legislation would withhold lawmakers' paychecks, he added.
"Members of Congress will not be paid by the American people for failing to do their job. No budget, no pay. It's time to come together and get to work."
Obama has repeatedly said he will not negotiate on extending US borrowing authority and has called on Congress to raise the limit so the government can meet its obligations.
Some Republicans have signaled they would be willing to let the government shut down unless a debt ceiling increase was met with an equal reduction in federal spending.
The latest move is seen by some officials as a concession and a sign of a more pragmatic approach to debt negotiations by House Republicans amid pressure over the prospect of sending the government into default.
"We are encouraged that there are signs that congressional Republicans may back off their insistence on holding our economy hostage to extract drastic cuts in Medicare, education and programs middle class families depend on," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in response to Friday's proposal.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office suggested he would swiftly bring the Republican measure to a vote.
"If the House can pass a clean debt ceiling increase to avoid default and allow the United States to meet its existing obligations, we will be happy to consider it," Reid's spokesman Adam Jentleson said in a statement.
Congressman Paul Ryan, the powerful House Budget Committee chairman and Republican Mitt Romney's losing vice presidential nominee, backed the proposal but insisted the Senate pass a budget that gives priority to how taxpayer dollars are spent.
Any deal to temporarily raise the debt ceiling "rests on the recognition that our challenge is twofold: We have to pay our bills today, and we have to make sure we can pay our bills tomorrow," Ryan said.
"To achieve both ends, we must cut spending and budget responsibly."
House Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, favored the proposal -- and made it clear that the debt ceiling would remain a bargaining chip, despite Obama's insistence to the contrary.
"Before there is any long-term debt limit increase, a budget should be passed that cuts spending," Boehner said.
Delaying the debt ceiling debate could allow lawmakers to focus more thoroughly on the $110 billion in broad mandated cuts set to hit the military and domestic programs from early March, as well as the temporary funding that is keeping the government running and which expires at the end of that month.
source: AFP
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