Civic Register
| 10.6.21
Democrats Accept GOP Plan to Delay Debt Limit Standoff Until December
How do you feel about a short-term debt limit extension?
What’s the story?
- Democrats on Wednesday accepted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) offer of a short-term truce in the standoff over the debt limit, which will be increased until December under a deal Congress is expected to act on in the near future.
- McConnell offered Democrats two options: Under the first option, Republicans would agree to fast-track consideration of the Democrats’ debt limit hike through the budget reconciliation process along party-lines to ensure its enactment before the “x-day” of October 18th. The second option, which Democrats accepted, is a short-term debt limit extension based on current spending levels until December.
- According to a report by Politico, McConnell discussed his plan with key Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), a pair of moderates who are negotiating to reduce the size of Democrats’ reconciliation bill.
- Democratic senators took the opportunity to declare victory. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said “McConnell caved!” while leaving a meeting and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) told MSNBC that “it looks like Mitch just folded.” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said to reporters:
“Mitch McConnell did not get what he wanted. Now we’re focused on getting what the American people want.”
- McConnell said in a statement that “the unified Democratic government had two and a half months to address the debt limit through reconciliation” but instead “they drifted to the doorstep of yet another self-created Democrat crisis.” The GOP leader added:
“We have already made it clear we would assist in expediting the 304 reconciliation process for stand-alone debt limit legislation. To protect the American people from a near-term Democrat-created crisis, we will also allow Democrats to use normal procedures to pass an emergency debt limit extension at a fixed dollar amount to cover current spending levels into December. This will moot Democrats’ excuses about the time crunch they created and give the unified Democratic government more than enough time to pass standalone debt limit legislation through reconciliation.”
What’s next?
- The Senate is expected to take up the bill to raise the debt limit through December shortly after the Treasury Dept. finishes its calculations as to what the national debt will be in December, which will allow the bill’s writers to include the new debt limit in the legislation. Following Senate passage, the House will likely return within several days to pass the bill and send it to President Joe Biden’s desk.
- Depending on precisely how the debt limit is raised, the new December debt limit may serve as either a hard deadline for default or an early warning tripwire to resume negotiations. That distinction depends on whether Congress includes funding to replace the “extraordinary measures” the Treasury Dept. has been using since the prior debt limit extension ended on August 1st. Extraordinary measures entail the use of cash from several federal accounts to fund the government’s obligations until those accounts are exhausted, at which point there would be a risk of default.
- If the accounts used for extraordinary measures are replenished, there could be two-plus months of lead time to resolve the debt limit ahead of the next deadline; but if they’re not replenished then Congress will be faced with averting a default in December.
- In the meantime, Democrats will be focused on resolving their intra-party divisions over their reconciliation spending bill, given that its size and the extent to which its spending is offset by tax hikes will determine its impact on the deficit and the national debt.
- Having a firm estimate of the future debt levels after the enactment of Democrats’ spending bill, which could range from being fully offset to raising the debt by $1.75 trillion or more, will be an important reference point in the next debt limit debate because Democrats will still be unlikely to get enough Republican support to suspend the debt limit through a set date, so they will in all likelihood have to specify the new debt limit.
- Several Democratic senators said Wednesday that they still do not intend to use budget reconciliation to raise the debt limit later this year, but it’s unlikely GOP senators and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) signaled a willingness to use reconciliation so that may be the best available option.
- Democrats could use the budget reconciliation process by amending their budget resolution would allow them to pass a debt limit hike through reconciliation on party-lines with two debt-related “vote-a-ramas” in the Senate. It’s also worth noting that the reconciliation process would allow both the “Build Back Better” bill and a debt limit reconciliation bill to move independently in Congress at the same time without either interfering with the other.
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— Eric Revell
(Photo Credit: McConnell: Gage Skidmore via Flickr / Creative Commons | Schumer: mdfriendofhillary via Flickr / Creative Commons)
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Now do not cave to the communist Dems
It is only a stop-gap measure to give Democrats time to figure out that they need to use whatever tools they must to ELIMINATE the debt limit. I wish ALL congressmen would get behind eliminating what is clearly a TIME BOMB aimed at destroying the financial security of our country.
GOP/Trump Party doesn’t care part of the National Debt occurred on their watch. GOP wants a FREE ride for Wealthy Corporations and Individuals. Let the Working Poor and Disabled do without. The GOP/ Trump Prosperity Gospel excludes Middle Class Americans.
This kicks the can down the road. They have all year to solve this but it always goes down to the wire. Until they change the Constitution to allow them to also suffer this will be a recurring problem. Realistically you'd need to make both Congress and the Executive Branch feel personal pain to solve this - you can't currently. You'd need to make them suffer loss of pay and staff funding that couldn't be reimbursed if they go past the deadline to pass a budget and not raise the debt ceiling without showing how you are balancing it with a long term solution to reduce the debt. Perhaps a bill that would reduce their pay and staff budget by 1% per day past the deadline with no chance to recess until it is solved?
First, we stop ALL OF THEIR BENEFITS! No paychecks. No health insurance. No time off. No workout or spa privileges. No travel expenses or reimbursements. No more paying legal fees for their improper conduct! NO TO WHATEVER SALARIES OR PERKS THEY GET! You know why we have no audits? It’s because we will see the VAST amounts of money they squander, on a daily basis. There needs to be an amendment mandating audits of all agencies. Let the cards fall where they may! No more filet mignon and expensive hotels for meetings or conventions. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ALREADY! People WE MUST DEMAND THAT THIS IS DONE. SERIOUSLY PEOPLE, ONLY THEN will we know where the waste bins are! Maybe then, we can wipe that smirk off Mitch’s turtle face!
A vote to continue the lies and irresponsibility for the causes of the U S debt until December is cruel. If I do not get my social security check I will blame the Republicans.
Shut it down.
What exactly does this mean - a MINORITY of Congress rules the roost again!
No NOT , I have to budget with no debt ceiling. Be exact for future spending with NO EXTRA CREME ON THE SIDE period. It’s my money and many other Americans money. I need extra money to help pay for a new high dollar Vehical and an iceberg on my front Green Lawn! Throw in a couple of illegals in there and I’ll be Happy to get them to clean my new car and house with your money.
Everyone that I have talked to or written to about this are sick of it. What ever you decide to do better demonstrate "forward movement", or you all will be looking for a new job. by "forward movement" I mean all good things for the American people! Not your party or the other party; god knows you guys have it all! What do the American people have? What will they have when you are done? Better be good!
I don't trust them. I certainly don't trust Mitch McConnell. He has never cared about the people of this country. Did you know that 2 weeks before the election, his people rated him at 28% of the vote. When did that change and how? There probably should be a recount of his votes and Lindsey Grahams (26%) pre election. We, everyone that I talk to, want only people that care really care about us, our lives and our families, our jobs and most of all our country! Mitch and his followers don't. What has he done to try to help President Joe Biden? He works against Joe and everyone knows it.
Sorry hit the wrong thing and was unable to finish my statement which said when everything was bad in America and we had hard times Nancy Pelosi was on television and went to her freezer and showed us her gourmet ice cream. This arrogant no feeling human being. And hard to call her human being for me. Look at the price of gas. Joe Biden shut down our oil pipeline. Put over 11,000 people out of work first day he was president. Things have gone downhill since then. And they’re not for the better, he’s made nothing better. He’s putting more mandates on everything. Parents no longer have a say about their kids having A say in their own kids education. And what these people are teaching their kids. Am I happy know and the people that say they are come on who do you think you’re kidding. There’s no way that Joe Biden has made anything better in 10 months in our country. Unless you’re deaf dumb and blind and you can’t see the borders overflowing with 20,000 people and more coming how are we supposed to support them. They want money to give to them healthcare , Housing, food, everything that they will need. Our tax dollars will be paying for. What the hell is wrong with you people are you ridiculously out of commission. You don’t want our borders shut down.????
They want to put too much junk in that bill. To raise the deficit. Why can’t we see all of it. Before they do anything. Don’t we have the right to know. Seeing as how our tax dollars are going to pay for everything. In spite of what Joe Biden is saying it will cost nothing. Nothing is for free Joe. Corporations are going to pay higher taxes. It’s going to filter down to the consumer. And they’re very wealthy that include you Joe. Except you didn’t pay all of your taxes. The taxes for the American people are going to go up. Look at what you want to know about our own bank accounts. We are not even in control of that. Do we tell you Joe what you can spend in your family? Do we know how much money you are making a year? We are paying you aren’t we go with our tax dollars. And when I take a look at the Career politicians like Nancy Pelosi who has more money than God. And how did she get all of that, inside trading and a lot more. They didn’t stop inside trading for politicians until 2012. How about when everybody was in the pandemic and couldn’t go out and things were shut down and we watch Nancy Pelosi show us her gourmet rest
It's time we eliminate the Debt Ceiling & the Filibuster. These have outlived their Purpose. Moscow Mitch must think we Voters are dumb & don't understand these things, but he & the Domestic Terrorist Supporting Republican's are 100% wrong, because we do. Raising the Debt Ceiling is needed to pay our countries Bills with Frump & the Republicans who caused the a large part of the Debt by passing the Huge Tax Cut Republican's gave themselves, the Top 1% & Corporate America. The Present Debt was NOT caused By Pres. Biden & we know that. We need the Democrats to stand up & eliminate both the Debt Ceiling & the Filibuster & let Republican's know just how SMART we Voters are.
Republicans want to play political games with our lives and future.
End the filibuster already!
I would like to know how they expect to pass the Build Back Better infrastructure bill AND raise the debt ceiling in their last opportunity to use Reconciliation??? Evil McConnell is very smart, and most likely has a plan to circumvent the passage of BBB. Or, with Manchin’s help, allow only a pretend, ineffective bill to pass, in order to block Biden’s agenda and harm the American people. Democrats need to take the gloves off, and fight fire with fire! Stop being nice to these people who, at the least do not care about the American people, and are actively trying to crash our democracy!! Oh, and get rid of the filibuster! This crazy debt ceiling argument happens every year when democrats are in power, and having to pay for Republican excesses of a previous administration. The idea that they think we, the public, are too stupid to see what the Republicans are doing drives me crazy! The Debt Ceiling needs to be abolished. The US is the only developed country which uses this artificial method to brake spending on the populous. The whole idea of “How are we paying for it” is ridiculous. Good policy pays for itself in many ways, such as people able to work, being healthy, their children educated so that the next generation is able be a successful group.
Looks like a little Trumpy Wumpy is afraid he’s guilty Wilty. So the ex president has tried to declare executive privilege. Sounds like a pile of bullshit it’s X-executive privilege Trump! You are the ex president because you are a loser. Trump is snake in the grass and just as he has been all his life a a draft dodging coward and loser.
Get a good Build Back Better program passed. Ignore Joe Manchin’s smooth rhetoric about bi-partisanship or a hard funding limit on the Build Back Better package because it is all self-serving bull crap to protect his real income from the energy industry and his energy benefactors. Pass the bill and get it rolled out and immediately and then take Manchin and Sinema to their coal shed and politically beat the bull crap out of their heads and get them to vote to override the filibuster to pass the voting rights bills so the Republican Faction cannot steal the midterm vote. If we cannot get the voting rights bills passed, I do not see clearly the path to keep the militarized political machine that the Republican Faction has become from rolling the midterm elections. A vote to keep the filibuster in place for voting rights legislation or an interminable delay, is a vote for the trumpublican candidates in the midterms and the politically rigged machine that the Republican Faction as a regimented body is building in the states with Republican legislators in the majority, that helps to get them get there. … … … Your so called ‘principles’ are going to get the trump re-elected. We have little chance if you want to honor the history of the filibuster for those who have routinely abused it’s use. A non-vote to selectively table the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation is a direct vote for a trumpublican era of governance - and the trump. What is Gods green earth leads you to believe that a neo-trumpublican governance would have any concern about ‘principles’? What in the last thirteen years of the trumpublican Senate leads you to believe that ‘principles’ mean anything at all to them? Just what are you smoking dude? Take the gloves off and join the fight to save our democracy? Get with the program. Honor what your constituents overwhelmingly support; Republican voters, independent voters and Democratic voters alike in WV as well as nationally. … … … Trust is never just given; Trust must be earned. What specific actions has the Republican Faction as a body taken that warrants such trust or respect from you and Simema? I can see it with individual members on occasion but not with the Republican Faction as a body. Why are you willing to defer to unwarranted trust that they will begin to realistically cooperate, when they have not for the past thirteen years? It’s time to be an actual ‘man’ with the cojones to do what is right and necessary. You are trying to play by the rules with the Republican Faction which ignores the rules whenever it suits them, in order to win their war against Democrats - who find it difficult to side step their principles and actually defend themselves from a committed enemy that ignores ethical norms in order to win. It is not a fair fight - defend yourself accordingly and defend your country. Your grandchildren will have much more respect for your legacy as a person who helped to save democracy instead of the wimp that let democracy fade, just for your near term personal gain.
Lock Bannon up along with Trump they both seem like they have some thing pretty big to hide. By the way Trump you’re an ex president with X presidential privileges. Meaning you have none zero like the zero that you are.