GOP struggles for concensus on debt ceiling

House Republicans met privately for more than an hour in the basement of the Capitol on Tuesday, but finished with no clear proposal for how to avoid a possible federal default.

“There have been no decisions about what exactly we will do,” Republican House Speaker John Boehner said after the meeting. “But we’re going to continue to work with members on both sides of the aisle to try and make sure that there’s no issue of default and that we get our government re-opened.”

Translation: Republican leaders still can’t find the votes they need to pass a debt ceiling increase.

The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1 and the Treasury Department says that Congress must agree to a plan to raise the federal debt ceiling by the end of the day Thursday so the government can continue to pay its bills on time. Failing to raise the borrowing limit could rattle financial markets and put the federal government at risk of defaulting on its debts.

While nothing conclusive came out of the closed-door House GOP meeting, which began with a group rendition of the “Amazing Grace,” lawmakers who attended described a possible framework for a House proposal that could see a vote as early as Tuesday afternoon: In exchange for an agreement to raise the federal debt ceiling until February and re-open the government until January, House Republicans want a law that would force all members of Congress and top administration officials — including President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden — to enroll in the federal exchanges established by the Democrats’ federal health care law. They also are considering asking for a two-year delay of the tax on medical devices that also is in the health care overhaul.

Based on reactions from House GOP members leaving the meeting, there appeared to be no consensus of support for the plan. Conservative lawmakers who for months have insisted that the health care law be repealed or delayed as part of any deal would obviously have to make concessions to their demands, and therefore reject a noisy base that is urging them not to cave.

Many refused to discuss their thoughts on the meeting with the media, and others were not enthusiastic.

“I don’t like it,” California Republican Rep. John Campbell said when asked about the proposals. Campbell added that he would need more details before declaring how he would vote.

Democratic leaders in the Senate and White House officials quickly made clear that they would not accept the House proposals, even though nothing had been officially submitted for a bill.

"Let's be clear: The House legislation will not pass the Senate,” Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said.

White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage dismissed the initiative as “a partisan attempt to appease a small group of Tea Party Republicans who forced the government shutdown in the first place.”

The potential House Republican proposals come after several days of intense and delicate negotiations between Senate Republicans and Democrats. Still, a Senate deal has not been announced, and Senate negotiators on Tuesday postponed a meeting, a sign that there is still work that needs to be done between both sides.

Meanwhile, Obama is planning to meet with House Democratic leaders about the debt ceiling situation at 3:15 p.m. ET Tuesday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/debt-ceiling-deal-in-congress-161907863.html
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