The House Tuesday overwhelmingly defeated a bill that would raise the nation’s debt ceiling after a partisan debate filled with political mudslinging that provided no clear plan for how the nation will increase its borrowing limit to avoid defaulting on loans. The final vote was 318 to 97 against raising the debt ceiling, with dozens of Democrats joining the GOP majority in defeating the politically unpopular measure.
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Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has warned Congress that is must vote to raise the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by Aug. 2 or risk shattering the nation’s fragile economy by causing the United States to default on its loans.
But Republicans are refusing to raise the limit without serious spending cuts that at least match the $2 trillion in additional borrowing authority Geithner is seeking. The GOP put a bill on the floor Tuesday that would have allowed for raising the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion without any accompanying cuts. Their point was to demonstrate that Democrats also oppose raising the debt ceiling without spending reforms. The final vote saw 82 Democrats join all the Republicans in voting against raising the debt ceiling.
“It’s important we send a clear signal, that there will not be an unconditional increase in the debt limit and we’re serious about addressing our debt limits and we’ve seen the signals from the financial markets and heard what our constituents have said,” said David Camp, R-Mich., chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee.
Democrats accused the GOP of playing a “political charade” by calling for a vote to raise the debt ceiling that is sure to fail but could end up seriously rattling financial markets. They pointed out news articles which claimed that Republicans had to convince the business community that Tuesday’s debt ceiling vote was just a political move.
“Bringing up this bill in this fashion is a ploy so egregious the Republicans spent the last week pleading with Wall Street not to take it seriously and risk our economic recovery,” said Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat on Ways & Means. “If Republicans were being truthful, they’d admit they are looking for political cover, but in doing so, they risk blowing a hole in our nation’s economy.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she was voting against the bill because it is “predicated on a false premise,” that the president’s budget necessitates an increase in the debt by $2.4 trillion. She and other Democrats argued that the debt ceiling increase is needed to avoid default on debt accumulated during the administration of President George W. Bush.
But Republicans pointed out that Obama has been increasing the debt limit at twice the pace of the Bush administration and that voters are demanding the spending come to a halt.
“This vote today basically says we are not going to grant the president unconditional increase in how much America can borrow,” said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas.
