Word is that Congressional leaders are working around the clock to have some sort of debt ceiling deal, whether short-, medium-or long-term, in place before the Asian markets open. If you are getting a queasy Lehman feeling, you are probably right. House Speaker John Boehner hopes to have a framework for a debt-limit plan in place by Sunday afternoon to avoid roiling the Asian markets, he told colleagues on a Saturday conference call.
An immediate deal would raise the debt ceiling and cut spending, Boehner said, and there are still options on the table for more comprehensive deficit reduction of $3 trillion to $5 trillion, according to GOP sources on the call. He is also aiming for a framework in the form of Cut, Cap and Balance — the plan that has failed in the Senate, Obama has threatened to veto but House Republicans passed overwhelmingly
Boehner apparently also said this to the president before walking out on talks with the White House.
“As I read the Constitution, the Congress writes the laws and you get to decide what you want to sign,” Boehner said, recounting what he told the president, according to two sources.
You have to feel for Boehner. While he has taken flak from the right for even negotiating a deal, he is also dealing with a disingenuous leftist who simply doesn't want to abide by the Constitution, but only wants to lock in the trillion dollar deficits of the last two years, the voters be damned.
Republicans are under enormous media and political pressure to agree to raise taxes. But, why should they? Their constituents explicitly sent them to DC to hold the line on taxes and reduce the size of government. Who out there can Obama can point to that wants to raise taxes and increase gov't spending, and is demanding it as explicitly as conservatives are demanding the opposite?
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