House Republicans stated to not rule out clean debt vote
February 5, 2014 10:08 am
House Republican leaders haven’t ruled out a “clean” U.S. credit ceiling hike as a last option to avoid default unless lawmakers can agree on what conditions to look for in exchange, a party aide said.
The party aide sought anonymity to characterize the private transactions. Several Republicans stated today they haven’t lined up enough votes to pair a credit ceiling boost with a policy alteration such as rolling back part of the Obamacare health law.
“I’d like to do something substantive, but I also know that we’re just going through the motions,” Representative Justin Amash, a Tea Party-backed Republican from Michigan said in an interview. “If we’re going to get there anyway, we might as well just get there.”
Amash and Representative Steve King, an Iowa Republican, said while they won’t vote for such a measure, they also won’t attempt to stop leaders from pushing it through the House. King said about 30 other Republicans agree with that position.
“I’m not going to be particularly critical” of leaders bringing up a debt limit increase without conditions if needed, King said in an interview. “I’m just not going to vote for a debt ceiling increase.”
A suspension of the federal credit ceiling, enacted by Congress in October, is scheduled to expire February 7. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew has urged Congress to act quickly to raise the cap, saying the government’s power to meet its obligations will run out before the end of this month.
Many ‘Opinions’
House Speaker John Boehner told reporters that his members have “a lot of opinions about how to deal with the debt limit,” though “no decisions have been made.”
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers said in an interview today, “It’s very difficult to ask our members to vote for a clean debt ceiling.”
Still, an extension of government borrowing authority without conditions is an option because “the speaker has made it clear the debt ceiling is going to be raised” and “economically, he’s right,” Oklahoma Republican Tom Cole, a Boehner ally, told reporters.
A dispute over raising the debt limit was among the issues that led to the 16-day partial government shutdown in October. House Republicans tried repeatedly to attach policy provisions curbing Obamacare and promoting the Keystone XL pipeline in exchange for raising the debt cap and funding the government.
‘Predictable Disaster’
Ultimately, the debt limit was suspended with no conditions. Boehner of Ohio later said that forcing the impasse over Obamacare was a “predictable disaster.”
President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats say they won’t negotiate with Republicans on conditions for raising the limit.
“Why don’t we skip the crisis this time?” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, told reporters today. “We cannot and will not play games with the full faith and credit of our country.”
Senator John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said February 1 that “probably enough” members of his party in the Senate would back a debt-ceiling increase with no conditions attached.
The 232 House Republicans have held at least two rounds of private strategy talks, including last week at their annual retreat in Cambridge, Maryland, and again today.
“We’re in discussion with that,” Republican Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida said today about a debt-limit increase at a Bloomberg Government breakfast. “I don’t think there is a consensus yet with that in terms of what issues are going to be brought up with the debt ceiling.”
One Option
The House isn’t scheduled to take up a debt limit bill before February 7, though Republicans have said they won’t provoke a debt crisis.
One option House Republicans are considering would demand repeal of health-care law provisions designed to limit losses incurred by health insurers if the cost of covering an older, sicker pool of people is higher than they anticipated.
Without the risk mechanisms, insurers may have to raise premiums, further discouraging healthy people from signing up, a potential death spiral for the insurance exchanges.
The Health and Human Services Department said in 2013 that it might tap the Treasury to aid the insurers. Republicans call that a bailout and want to prevent it.
Today, though, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said that keeping the health-care law’s risk mechanisms would save the federal government $8 billion over the next 10 years.
‘Ridiculous Demand’
Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray said House Republicans are “planning to manufacture a crisis over the debt limit,” though they “can’t seem to agree on which ridiculous demand to make in exchange for ensuring the United States pays its bills.”
U.S. Dollar volatility over the last 90 days, a key measure of economic uncertainty, fell to 4.07 percentage points today from a yearly high of 7.34 percent in September, when Congress was also debating how to raise the debt ceiling.
Florida Republican Rick Nugent said the House effort is “really about passing” the debt limit. The House is likely to attach conditions for raising it “at least for the first round,” he said in an interview.
King of Iowa, a Republican who has been skeptical about increasing the debt limit without significant conditions, said he’s not sure Republicans can win anything if they’re not united in demanding it.
House Vote
King said he’s urging Republican leaders to hold a vote on a debt-limit increase with some type of condition attached. He said they should signal that if the Senate strips out the condition and sends the bill back to the House, leaders would allow a vote as long as Democrats provide most of the support.
Boehner stressed to reporters that Republicans won’t allow the U.S. to default on its obligations.
“The goal is to increase the debt limit; nobody wants to default on our debt,” Boehner said. “While we’re doing this, we ought to do something about jobs and the economy, about the drivers of our debt. When we have a decision, we’ll let you know.”
Asked whether any debt limit measure could get enough Republican votes to guarantee passage without needing Democratic support, Boehner said today, “We’ll see.”
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com
House Republican leaders haven’t ruled out a “clean” U.S. credit ceiling hike as a last option to avoid default unless lawmakers can agree on what conditions to look for in exchange, a party aide said.
The party aide sought anonymity to characterize the private transactions. Several Republicans stated today they haven’t lined up enough votes to pair a credit ceiling boost with a policy alteration such as rolling back part of the Obamacare health law.
“I’d like to do something substantive, but I also know that we’re just going through the motions,” Representative Justin Amash, a Tea Party-backed Republican from Michigan said in an interview. “If we’re going to get there anyway, we might as well just get there.”
Amash and Representative Steve King, an Iowa Republican, said while they won’t vote for such a measure, they also won’t attempt to stop leaders from pushing it through the House. King said about 30 other Republicans agree with that position.
“I’m not going to be particularly critical” of leaders bringing up a debt limit increase without conditions if needed, King said in an interview. “I’m just not going to vote for a debt ceiling increase.”
A suspension of the federal credit ceiling, enacted by Congress in October, is scheduled to expire February 7. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew has urged Congress to act quickly to raise the cap, saying the government’s power to meet its obligations will run out before the end of this month.
Many ‘Opinions’
House Speaker John Boehner told reporters that his members have “a lot of opinions about how to deal with the debt limit,” though “no decisions have been made.”
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers said in an interview today, “It’s very difficult to ask our members to vote for a clean debt ceiling.”
Still, an extension of government borrowing authority without conditions is an option because “the speaker has made it clear the debt ceiling is going to be raised” and “economically, he’s right,” Oklahoma Republican Tom Cole, a Boehner ally, told reporters.
A dispute over raising the debt limit was among the issues that led to the 16-day partial government shutdown in October. House Republicans tried repeatedly to attach policy provisions curbing Obamacare and promoting the Keystone XL pipeline in exchange for raising the debt cap and funding the government.
‘Predictable Disaster’
Ultimately, the debt limit was suspended with no conditions. Boehner of Ohio later said that forcing the impasse over Obamacare was a “predictable disaster.”
President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats say they won’t negotiate with Republicans on conditions for raising the limit.
“Why don’t we skip the crisis this time?” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, told reporters today. “We cannot and will not play games with the full faith and credit of our country.”
Senator John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said February 1 that “probably enough” members of his party in the Senate would back a debt-ceiling increase with no conditions attached.
The 232 House Republicans have held at least two rounds of private strategy talks, including last week at their annual retreat in Cambridge, Maryland, and again today.
“We’re in discussion with that,” Republican Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida said today about a debt-limit increase at a Bloomberg Government breakfast. “I don’t think there is a consensus yet with that in terms of what issues are going to be brought up with the debt ceiling.”
One Option
The House isn’t scheduled to take up a debt limit bill before February 7, though Republicans have said they won’t provoke a debt crisis.
One option House Republicans are considering would demand repeal of health-care law provisions designed to limit losses incurred by health insurers if the cost of covering an older, sicker pool of people is higher than they anticipated.
Without the risk mechanisms, insurers may have to raise premiums, further discouraging healthy people from signing up, a potential death spiral for the insurance exchanges.
The Health and Human Services Department said in 2013 that it might tap the Treasury to aid the insurers. Republicans call that a bailout and want to prevent it.
Today, though, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said that keeping the health-care law’s risk mechanisms would save the federal government $8 billion over the next 10 years.
‘Ridiculous Demand’
Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray said House Republicans are “planning to manufacture a crisis over the debt limit,” though they “can’t seem to agree on which ridiculous demand to make in exchange for ensuring the United States pays its bills.”
U.S. Dollar volatility over the last 90 days, a key measure of economic uncertainty, fell to 4.07 percentage points today from a yearly high of 7.34 percent in September, when Congress was also debating how to raise the debt ceiling.
Florida Republican Rick Nugent said the House effort is “really about passing” the debt limit. The House is likely to attach conditions for raising it “at least for the first round,” he said in an interview.
King of Iowa, a Republican who has been skeptical about increasing the debt limit without significant conditions, said he’s not sure Republicans can win anything if they’re not united in demanding it.
House Vote
King said he’s urging Republican leaders to hold a vote on a debt-limit increase with some type of condition attached. He said they should signal that if the Senate strips out the condition and sends the bill back to the House, leaders would allow a vote as long as Democrats provide most of the support.
Boehner stressed to reporters that Republicans won’t allow the U.S. to default on its obligations.
“The goal is to increase the debt limit; nobody wants to default on our debt,” Boehner said. “While we’re doing this, we ought to do something about jobs and the economy, about the drivers of our debt. When we have a decision, we’ll let you know.”
Asked whether any debt limit measure could get enough Republican votes to guarantee passage without needing Democratic support, Boehner said today, “We’ll see.”
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com
Related Posts: