Trying to break the impasse, President Obama planned to address the nation Monday night in televised remarks from the Oval Office of the White House.
The president’s decision to intervene comes after House Republican leaders pushed for a vote Wednesday on a two-step plan that would allow the federal debt limit to immediately be raised by about $1 trillion and tie a second increase next year to the ability of a new joint Congressional committee to produce more deficit reduction.
But top Senate Democrats called the proposal a “non-starter” and said they would advance their own plan to reduce the deficit by $2.7 trillion and raise the debt ceiling until after next year’s elections, saying it met the conditions that Republicans had laid down during the ongoing debt fight.
“We’re about to go over a cliff here,” Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who serves as majority leader, said Monday afternoon as he outlined his proposal.
He said that Republicans were essentially attempting to embarass President Obama in the middle of the 2012 election year by forcing another debt limit showdown and that Democrats would not go along with any plan that does not guarantee a debt limit increase through next year.
The plan assembled by Mr. Reid quickly received the president’s endorsement. Over the next ten years, it would cut $1.2 trillion from federal agency budgets and wring some savings from recurring programs such agriculture subsidies. The proposal also counts about $1 trillion in savings from winding down combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan – a point likely to encounter resistance from Republicans who brand such savings as gimmicks.
Hoping to beat the Senate to the punch, the House Republican leadership was trying to sell its plan to the party membership in the hopes of forcing it through the House by Wednesday.
The proposal would cut current spending and put legal limits on future spending, saving what Republicans estimate to be about $1.2 trillion over 10 years. That approach would allow a debt limit increase that would extend into early next year.
At the same time, a new 12-member committee evenly divided among Democrats and Republicans would be assigned the job of finding another $1.8 trillion in savings. The panel would have special privileges to bring legislation before the House and Senate and its proposal would not be subjected to amendment or Senate filibuster. If the plan passed, the president could seek another $1.6 trillion increase in the debt limit based on the new committee’s proposal.
The prospect of a potential second Congressional fight over a debt limit increase if the committee fails to deliver is likely to be a major sticking point with Congressional Democrats and the White House, who want a guaranteed debt limit increase through 2012.
House Republicans hope to win approval of their plan as early as Wednesday, putting pressure on the Senate, where Democrats will have to round up 60 votes to make any progress on their own plan. Senate Democrats were scheduled to formally issue their plan later Monday.
Under the House Republican plan, members of the Senate and House would also be required to vote on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution after October 1 but before the end of the year.
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=6dbd5e2d6202944b5769459738b40982
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