Pelosi and Boehner At Each Other’s Throats Over Upcoming Debt Ceiling Fight
Washington D.C. – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi went ballistic on House Speaker John Boehner for his requirement that would tie the debt ceiling to trillions of dollars in spending cuts.
Pelosi told reporters,
“They did it before. Here we go again. To toss this into the mix right now, saying we have to have cuts that exceed… the extent that we lift the debt ceiling is really immature. Irresponsible. Let’s get serious,”
Boehner reportedly told President Obama he would insist that cuts exceeding the amount of borrowing be implemented in order to raise the debt ceiling when it gets hit later this year. The last time that Republicans geared up for such a showdown the U.S. nearly defaulted in its debts for the first time in history and cost the country its AAA+ Standard and Poor’s credit rating. Thousands of federal works ran the risk of not being paid until Congress passed a deal at the last minute to increase the ceiling in return for $2.1 trillion in cuts.
Pelosi said that even suggesting there may be a fight over raising the ceiling was irresponsible. She said,
“So this is not a wholesome debate. It already can be damaging, just the fact that it’s brought up. I think that we should snuff it out immediately.”
Boehner said in his Sunday briefing to reporters,
“The only ones who are talking about drama or brinksmanship are my Democratic colleagues across the aisle. We can use the debt limit debate to force Washington to act, to cut spending and enact some of the real reforms that will help put America on a path to prosperity. The White House wants to raise the debt limit without a single dime of spending cuts or reforms. Listen, with nearly $16 trillion in debt already, it’s not credible. We need a president who will show up and work with us, both Democrats and Republicans, to address these pressing concerns.”
One of the biggest sticking points last year when the debate started about the debt ceiling was that Democrats insist on tax increases while Republicans say that is completely off the table.
