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House Republicans are discussing the prospect of a short-term extension in the nation's debt limit to avoid fault and give negotiations between lawmakers and the White House more time to succeed.
Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman and erstwhile GOP vice presidential candidate, told reporters at House Republicans' retreat that members were "discussing the virtue of a short term debt limit extension."
Ryan elaborated that the idea would be to raise the nation’s borrowing authority for a few months and tie the matter into discussions with the White House and Senate on the other fiscal issues facing the country, such as the automatic spending cuts associated with the sequester and how to fund the government in the next fiscal year.
The comment is a significant development because it suggests there is movement in the House GOP Conference to avoid the debt limit when it's scheduled to hit in February, and instead shift the political battle in their favor by transforming the debate into a fight over shutting down the government or offsetting $110 billion dollars in cuts to defense and domestic programs.
When asked by NBC News whether he believed the House GOP Conference was unified enough to not have a repeat of the fiscal cliff fiasco, when many Republican lawmakers were reluctant to support plans by the GOP leadership, Ryan said, “We want people to have clear view of what's coming so there are no surprises, that means setting expectations accordingly so we can move forward in a unified basis.”
Ryan spent the morning with House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., briefing members about the upcoming “triple threat” of fiscal issues to be played out in Washington over the late winter and spring. GOP aides tell NBC News the talks are part of an effort by the Republican leadership to gauge the mood of the conference as well as map out the best possible path for the party in the next few months, so far they consider the response from members to be "positive."
The retreat is the House GOP’s annual occasion for members to talk to leadership, relax with their spouses and kids and also learn from communication professionals about to contour their message to fit the electorate. In light of the drubbing the GOP received amongst women and minorities in the 2012 election, the retreat will feature a seminar titled: “Coalitions-Discussion on Successful Communication with Minorities and Women.”
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The GOP regarded as a bigger threat than Al Qaeda by most Americans. If they push the US into a debt crisis there will be 5 million marchers in DC looking for a republican ass to kick.
Sad but true and to think they command some 47 percent of the vote!
You must be kidding.
While we were debating gun control...Timmy G. had his hand in the cookie jar, borrowing from the Federal Employee Pension Fund to pay America's bill, he said he'd replace it when the debt ceiling is raised. Sure, he'll replace it, just like they replaced the money in social security.
Their should be NO negotiations the debt ceiling is a "White Elephant" and of no use, it should be eliminated altogether. If you want to negotiate, fine, negotiate. But don't try to hold the government hostage and tell me you are negotiating. "Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining."
What a worthless piece of crap this guy turned out to be, eh?
TO Trustverify - so glad to see you found another post. I think you posted the same tripe yesterday about 20 times, remember? the one about Sandy Hook being a hoax. different posts today but I see your depth of reason has not changed
And the republicans wonder why businesses and the people are not buying houses or major items or expanding their business or building new ones when they have no assurance that the republicans will not cause a major downgrade of the USA by not paying the bills they have already vote to buy.
He also wonders why he and Romney lost the election with that kind of thinking and actions, what an idiot!!!
Ohhh !! I love this part of the movie ...
this is where the terrorists agree to release a couple of hostages ....
if the good guys agree to half of their demands, release Jack Abramoff from prison and give their terrorist group a $10 billion cost plus defense contract for a new stealth helicopter !!!
.....
This was my favorite part...
Sounds like a seminar for used car salesmen...
""The retreat is the House GOP’s annual occasion for members to talk to leadership, relax with their spouses and kids and also learn from communication professionals about to contour their message to fit the electorate. In light of the drubbing the GOP received amongst women and minorities in the 2012 election, the retreat will feature a seminar titled: “Coalitions-Discussion on Successful Communication with Minorities and Women.”""
Will it also include a session on how a woman's body can reject rape sperm if it was a "legitimate rape"?
Ahhh.... so it's "science based"
'Bout time....
No obamanomics!!!
No cuts???
No new debt increase!!!
Not really complicated!!!
Do you pay your credit card bills?
Pay off debt you have already incurred?
Or are you a deadbeat like you propose the US to be?
morron (oop's herron sry?)
YAWN!!!
No cuts, shut'er down!!
Time to teach comrade obama how to negotiate!!!
Gary, you are a fool. You clearly don't have any investments, 401k, or IRA.
LMAO, morron you are a twenty something idiot!!!
Shutting the government down won't be blame on Obama, other than right wing obama haters like yourself . Which at this point is out numbered. Last time I checked Obama won re-election.
So let it shut down, republicans will get the blame and voted out in 2014. Fine by me...
Look no more extensions period. Either vote for or against it but make a damn
decision and grow a PAIR. We the people need to know where you are leading this
Country either into another recession or into prosperity for all. No more
kicking the can down the road for even a few months make a decision stand by it
and take personal responsibility for your action or inaction. But just pull the
trigger already.
So sick and tired of these same debates every other month no
wonder this country can't get moving in the right direction because the Republicans
won't lay down the rules of the game so no one can make a move forward.
Used to vote Republican but i can no longer follow the kick the can down the
road group any longer. PLEASE GIVE US SOME LEADERSHIP MR. RYAN, MR. BOEHNER
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lyin' Ryan finally stopped hanging from his feet in the bat cave and came out into the daylight?
Really having a hard time with this whole debate..
teapublicans run around screaming about spending cuts !!! spending cuts !!!
And when somebody even mentions the possibility of any cuts to defense, they act as if the individual has blasphemed..
Who are we defending ourselves against,.. again??? I forgot...
Da' boogieman!
And I think we can conclude that " Da' boogieman!", in fact,. hates us for our freedoms...
Yikes !!!
You go girl. You Repubs still have a chance to keep the business and financial world guessing so that you can nip this economic recovery thing in the bud. Plenty of time to try and tarnish that black guy's image at the expense of the rest of the country. Hey, at the expense of the entire world's economies.
Is there a single member of the GOP that understands the meaning of hypocrisy?
Sure hope Lyin Ryan from Wisconsin runs with BS Barbie from Alaska in 2016.
...kick...the...can...down...the...road! perhaps if they do it slowly enough the problem will resolve itself. congress doesn't have the juevos to do the job it was sent to do and paid to do. on the one hand they can't stop spending; i'm surprised there is any pork left in the world! on the other hand they don't mind passing the bill to our grandchildren's children, something obama said he wouldn't do. it is time for a constitutional convention to change (obama should LOVE that word) the way things are done in washington.
With the purported threat of catastrophic "default" -- with all its implications for our already-imperiled credit rating -- hanging over the debt limit debate, Obama will relentlessly accuse the GOP of threatening to crash the economy. The press will largely play along with this narrative.
Few reporters will mention Obama's grandstanding vote against raising the debt ceiling seven years (and more than $8 trillion) ago. Fewer still will explain what does, and does not, constitute an actual credit default. Instead, Republicans will be seen as putting the full faith and credit of the United States government in graver trouble, with potentially far-reaching consequences. I also believe they'd endure all that calumny before eventually buckling -- a lose-lose, as framed by Pete Wehner. Here's an alternative plan, inspired by the Pete Wehner calculus:
(1) Give the president a sizable, no-strings-attached debt limit increase. Sooner rather than later. (I recognize this is a very bitter pill to swallow). In doing so, repeatedly emphasize two points. First, that Republicans went along with Obama's frivolous and counter-productive tax-hike-on-the-rich scheme to avoid the fiscal cliff, receiving virtually nothing in return. Considering the stakes for tens of millions of middle class Americans, this was the responsible choice -- even though it was an extremely unpleasant ideological concession. (Lesson: "Revenues" and "fairness" are now on the books, and thus off the table in upcoming debates). Second, that the president's last request for a $2.1 Trillion debt ceiling increase came just a year-and-a-half ago, yet Washington's rapacious spending habits have already exhausted every last dime of those funds. (Lesson: Spending is the problem). Yes, this would essentially constitute two consecutive episodes of Republicans acquiescing to Obama's demands, with little to show in return. Yes, this would anger some in the base, and it could prompt threats of primary challenges, etc. But it's only act one.
(2) Allow the $1.2 trillion sequester to go into effect in early March. Don't negotiate over it, despite its very troubling defense cuts. Remember, it's the delayed byproduct of 2011's debt deal, and Democrats should not be allowed to pretend that it's part of a "new" agreement on spending reductions. The Super Committee failed. The White House suggested these automatic cuts, assuming that they'd never happen. They are imperfect, real, and overdue reductions in spending. "Shoot" that "hostage" of the president's own making.
(3) Throw down over the expiration of the current continuing resolution (CR) in late March. The CR is the latest in an interminable string of temporary measures to fund the federal government in the absence of "normal order" -- ie, passing budgets and appropriations bills. This is the way things are supposed to work, but haven't for nearly four years. At this stage, Republicans will have cooperated with President Obama by reluctantly indulging his tax "fairness" fetish and by staving off "default" by ignoring Senator Obama's 2006 advice on the debt ceiling. Sure, the possibility of a partial government shutdown would still be in the air, but that's a "hostage" that could also plausibly be "shot." Republicans could aggressively point to their previous concessions while drawing their line in the sand at this lower-stakes, but still meaningful, crossroads. The expiration of yet another stop-gap federal funding gimmick would present an ideal opportunity to enter a full court press on the Democrats' serial budget abdications, with budget season fast approaching. This effort would be advanced against the backdrop of the president's recent and wholly inadequate "soak the rich" tax package, while another high profile and unsettling increase of the national debt limit would remain fresh in the public's collective mind. Democrats would surely ramp up their scare tactics about the effects of a government "shut down," but those could be batted away if Republicans can unite around the persuasive arguments of Sen. Pat Toomey (replace his references to the debt ceiling with "the CR expiration" -- the same arguments apply):
(h/t) - Pete Wehner
Or they could just act like the spoiled brats that they have been acting like, either way it's nothing but FAIL for them.
No more kicking the can down the road. Deal with the debt limit! I saw a suggestion that should be implemented, When a spending bill is passed, the debt limit is automatically raised to cover the cost of the bill. You don't like it? Then don't pass the bill, or cut the costs. That will help minimize pork budgeting, also.
Under Reagan, the GOP raised the debt limit 18 times without a blink of their eye, and did the same 15 times under GW Bush.
Yes, with the Democrats in the Congress at the time voting against raising the debt limit. It's amazing how "politics" works isn't it.
Anil. it NEVER failed to pass under Reagan or GW. Prior to Obama, it was a one page, one item bill.
And BTW, GW vetoed ZERO spending bills in his 8 years!
The debt is 100% the responsibility of the Republicans. They have, for over three decades, intentionally run up the debt as part of their "starve the beast" philosophy. That tactic has completely failed in its objective to reduce the size of government (in fact GW Bush massively increased the size of the federal government, even creating a new cabinet level bureaucracy) however they have succeeded in running up a huge debt.
Below is a right winger ADMITTING that their strategy is to INTENTIONALLY increase the debt.
Peter17
“The real winner with this legislation is the Tea Party and Grover Norquist. Their mission has NEVER been to protect the top 2% or anyone else. It is to force the end to "Big Government" in Washington DC.
The Tea Party was born because neither Democrats or Republicans were ever in the mood to cut spending and reduce the size of government. By handing out the pork to the folks back home, they kept on getting re-elected. That means the TP needed a different approach, and they found one - "Starve the Beast". If you cannot get Congress to pass legislation to lower spending, prevent them from raising the tax revenue needed to run "Big Government". Therefore they oppose tax increases of any kind on anyone. Less money will eventually mean smaller government.
So what does Obama do?? He makes almost all the Bush tax cuts permanent, cutting federal tax revenue over the next 10 years by $4 trillion. The TP probably cannot believe it because Obama has signed a "death warrant" on big government. Can you imagine anyone voting to raise taxes by trillions of dollars any time soon??? Not likely. The only way to get the country onto some kind of sustainable financial course now will be even more trillions of spending cuts than people were anticipating. Say goodbye to big government over the next 10-20 years. There now is no way to fund even a scaled back big government in Washington DC, thanks to Obama.”
If the GOP refuses to raise the debit limit, they are in violation of the US Constitution. The 14th amendment, and the "full faith and credit" clause.
Some here might think there are only two amendments, as they stop reading after the 2nd!
Send them to Gitmo as domestic terrorists for attempting to destroy the US economy.
RIP GOP.
GOP - Grand Obstructionist Party.
Housing starts up,.. jobless claims down.. All in all,. some good news for the economy...
And I think we all know that the teapublicans will NOT stand for that....
Maybe if they (the repubs) would try honesty instead of b.s., something would get done.
The Greedy Oppression Panderers, are only looking to hold up the economy as much as possible, hoping to blame it on the opposition come the next election. And extort congress to get goodies for their paymasters.
They havent been working for the people for decades.
The GOP needs to "mull over" getting a badly needed frontal lobotomy.
Obviously they are not listening to the majority of Americans: Knock it off when the partisan bullsh*t.
Let's take a look