July 28, 2011 5:57 PM

Trouble? House GOP delays debt limit vote

By
Brian Montopoli
Topics
Economy ,
Congress
John Boehner (Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Updated 6:53 p.m. Eastern Time

House Republican leaders have delayed their planned vote on a bill to increase the debt limit in a sign they do not have enough votes for passage.

The vote, which had been set for around 6 p.m. Eastern Time, has not been rescheduled, though a House GOP leadership aide told CBS News it is still planned for tonight. With the House leadership working to garner last-minute votes, the House held votes to name post offices before calling a temporary recess.

The Republican leadership has been working feverishly to get the votes to pass the bill over the objections of the fiscal conservative hard-liners in their caucus; earlier this week, House Speaker John Boehner (pictured) told members to "get your ass in line." Republicans fear that if the bill fails they will effectively hand Democrats both a political and legislative victory to conclude the protracted debt limit fight. 

Republicans who have said they would vote no are now being called into Boehner's office; on his way in, Rep. Louis Gohmert of Texas quipped he had been called to the "principal's office." When he left, Gohmert told reporters he remains a "bloody, beaten down no." Reps. Trent Frank and Jeff Flake of Arizona would not discuss how they will vote when they left Boehner's office.

The vote is seen as a crucial test of whether Boehner can control his caucus, which includes many Tea Party-linked conservatives - many of them freshmen - who argued the bill did not go far enough to reduce spending. The bill has been opposed by outside groups like The Club for Growth, fiscally-conservative Republican Study Group head Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.

The House GOP bill, The Budget Control Act, would initially pair a $900 billion debt limit increase - enough to last until early January - with more than $900 billion in spending cuts. Passage may not ultimately matter: Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid vowed that if the bill passes, he will immediately put it up for a vote in the Senate, where he vowed "it will be defeated" through the unified opposition of Democrats. 

Democrats say any debt ceiling deal should last through next year, and that the Boehner plan's short-term debt ceiling increase would create economic uncertainty and potentially result in the United States' Triple-A bond rating being reduced. Senate Democrats plan a vote on their own bill that would cut $2.2 trillion in spending over a decade and increase the debt ceiling by enough to last through the end of next year.

It's not clear how the Senate Democratic plan could get through the House, however, and the clock is ticking. The White House and others have warned that if Congress doesn't raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by Aug. 2, the U.S. will lose its authority to borrow money and risk defaulting on its loans or failing to pay other significant financial obligations.


Add a Comment See all 262 Comments
by slatep July 29, 2011 1:50 PM EDT
The only way to avoid future debacles is to eliminate the words Democratic and Republican from our political language.

Those running for office would be referred to as the Congressman from North Carolina etc. or the Senator from New Jersey etc.

This way there would be no division of seats in Congress or the Senate.

Seat them alphabetically.

True, there will still be bickering back and forth.

But they would be so homongenously mixed together, there would be no sides.

Bi-partisanship has done more damage to this country in the last 20+ years than it has done good.

We now have two "sides" whose interests concentrate on their "parties" and waste time and money name calling, bickering and dithering; each "side" determined to win.

For many years now all this BS has kept our Country from making any real progress, because these politicians have forgotten that when they are voting on a bill; they are no longer Republican or Democratic Congressmen and Senators; but are UNITED States Congressmen and Senators who are "supposed" to be UNITED in what's best for the entire US; not just their party.

I can hear the screams coming from Washington already.

This proposal should be put on the ballot in 2012 in the form of a referendum to be voted on by the constituents of these people.

Maybe then we would get people in Washington who are truly interested in what their constituents think, because; as it is; we have two "parties" who are just playing games with the future of the UNITED states.
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by I_Mean_What July 29, 2011 10:40 AM EDT
Throughout all this talk of the debt ceiling, the Republicans are now officially beginning to look like cartoon characters. The release of The Smurfs movie frames this debate in a very insightful way. Will these weirdly colored creatures survive their situations? http://******/qAmNre
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by RobAla July 29, 2011 7:02 AM EDT
The House put forth a plan, and Harry Reid will not even allow the Senate to vote on it. Why is it the fault of the House if we hit the debt ceiling?

President Obama and the Democrats in the Senate led by Harry Reid want Washington to continue with business as usual. Business as usual in Washington has led to the following:

1) 40 cents out of every dollar spent by the federal government is borrowed.
Does anyone think this is responsible management of the nation, or even sane?

2) Just below 20% of federal spending now goes to pay the interest alone on the national debt.
Does anyone think this is responsible management of the nation, or even sane?

3) The CBO, the GAO, and President Obama's Deficit Commission all state that what we are currently doing is NOT SUSTAINABLE.
Does anyone think this is responsible management of the nation, or even sane?

4) We are now $14.4 trillion in the hole, and are currently adding $1.5 trillion to it each year.
Does anyone think this is responsible management of the nation, or even sane?

5) The United States is increasing the size of federal spending by 7-8% each year, even though the rate of inflation is only about 3% per year.
Does anyone think this is responsible management of the nation, or even sane?

In light of the facts above, what would be the responsible and sane course of action?
At what point is the national debt TOO MUCH?

BUSINESS AS USUAL IN WASHINGTON IS DESTROYING THE COUNTRY!

So far, the only bill coming out of Washington that addressed any of these 5 horrible situations is the Cut, Cap, and Balance Bill passed by the House, and Harry Reid refused to allow the Senate to vote on it. Nothing President Obama and Reid has suggested deals with these problems in a responsible manner. Boehner's bill just slightly addresses a tiny amount of it. The bill passed by the House Cut current federal spending, Caps future spending by limiting it to a percentage of the GDP, and moves the nation toward a balanced budget via a Balanced Budget amendment to the US Constitution. It makes perfect sense.

Usually any talk of cuts in Washington really regards an amount of growth that might be cut; not really making real cuts. Most federal programs have built in increases of 7-8% each year. Is there any wonder that we are running $1.5 trillion in the hole each year?

WHEN WILL RESPONSIBLE ADULTS SHOW UP IN WASHINGTON AND ACTUALLY ADDRESS THESE 5 SITUATIONS, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE?
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by RobAla July 29, 2011 6:54 AM EDT
I hear that President Obama is coming up with a Plan C. What exactly was Plan A and Plan B? Nothing was on paper and scored by the CBO, so there were no real plans. The only REAL plan has been passed by the House. The Cut, Cap , and Balance plan was passed by the House. What was President Obama's plan? It was to threaten a veto. What was Harry Reid's plan - don't even allow the Cut, Cap, and Balance plan be voted on in the Senate. Now, which is the party of "NO" and which party has actually put out a plan?
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by reality_sanity July 29, 2011 6:58 AM EDT
Cut Cap and balance is dead it was only supported by 29% of the voters and 46% of the Senate as being worthy of debate and possible amendment in order to become a law.
by RobAla July 29, 2011 7:27 AM EDT
reality: When was it put to a vote of the American people and when was it put to a vote in the Senate. We can't say whether it would be supported or not because President Obama and Harry Reid simply stated it was "dead on arrival". Was it explained to the American people, and not just slapped around a little by the press. The press slapped Paul Ryan's budget around - but where is the alternative plan that actually stops this nation from sinking lower and lower in the hole? The Democrats certainly have not put out a plan to do this. President Obama is just concerned with having the public give him a blank check to make through the 2012 election. He has no plan.
by slappy_mcjohnson July 29, 2011 12:58 AM EDT
by HateDumocratSocialists July 28, 2011 10:57 PM EDT
And walmart and micrsoft will stop hiring and pass the cost on to the middle class

------------

Wal-Mart is China's sixth largest export market. In 2006, Wal-Mart imported $27 billion of Chinese goods. Wal-Mart's imports are responsible for 11% of the growth of the total U.S. trade deficit with China between 2001 and 2006. [Time, 6/19/05; EPI Issue Brief #235, 6/27/07]

Wal-Mart's trade deficit with China alone eliminated nearly 200,000 U.S. jobs between 2001 and 2006. On average, 77 U.S. jobs were eliminated for each one of Wal-Mart's 4,022 U.S. stores in 2006. [EPI Issue Brief #235, 6/27/07]

In order to obtain Wal-Mart contracts or to continue relations with Wal-Mart, American companies are coerced by Wal-Mart to open factories in China. Lakewood Engineering and Manufacturing Company and Huffy Bikes were two such cases. [Los Angeles Times, 11/23/03;
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by denarenee July 29, 2011 12:41 AM EDT
I know if they do not issue government checks in August,it will cause a lot of problems. Think of all the people that will become homeless Think of all the crime rates that will rise. I know I do not want my 93 year old grandmother working or my mom that has cancer working. I know a lot of people that are on checks and what are they going to do? They all need to get their heads out of their ass's and do the right thing. It seems like to me if your not rich in this so called world, we will be the first to go down and to me that is not fair.
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by bsvitamins1 July 29, 2011 12:32 AM EDT
I think we all need to go the the WHITE HOUSE AND SIT ON THE LAWN UNTIL THEY DO SOME THING AND COME AND TELL US. Have an old fashioned sit in. Make them know we are not happy. And don't let them forget it.
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by hairynews July 29, 2011 12:21 AM EDT
We lost 10 trillion in home equity that most economists estimate will take about 10 years in a good economy to get back. Japan had a housing bubble over 10 years ago and lost their power house status when their consumers stopped buying. Their housing prices still have not recovered. Our consumers are on the ropes and this circus will now cause more than a decade of hard times that only the really rich can ride out without pain. All businesses run using credit, cannot run without credit. Tire store gets shipment of 10 grand in tires, tire store does not give delivery man 10 grand in cash. Tire store has 30-60-90 days to write a check, meantime those tires belong to tire store. We spent on 2 wars etc, time to pay up. You kids out there do not have a clue what the rich politicians are about to do to you. You, the young people who are demanding not to pay for the tires of your father,s tire store(US-economy), are going to kill the business. Google Japans bubble and you will be shocked to see how long they suffered.
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by simpleconservative July 28, 2011 11:42 PM EDT
It is a very good thing that some of our representatives are actually representing us. There is no need for a new plan anyway. Cut cap and balance is sitting on the table in the senate and not only raises the debt ceiling but actually addresses the underlying problems. If Republicans tell the Senate, that's it, that is all we can support then the ball is in the obstructionist Democrats court and I would love to hear them explain why balancing the federal budget is such a bad idea. Many of them claim to be for a balanced budget amendment, but the stink of hypocrisy is so strong we can smell it in Oregon, all the way from Washington D.C.
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by bsvitamins1 July 29, 2011 12:37 AM EDT
You Sound SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Republican sorry for oyu your party is going down hill faster than any party has before.
by Progress4U July 28, 2011 10:58 PM EDT
Got to go folks. Can't wait to see how Mr. Weeper will f-this up for the GOP tomorrow. Haaaaaaaa!!! Love it!
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