Boehner's Revised Debt Limit Bill Passes House, as Senate Dems Work on Rival Legislation

Boehner’s Revised Debt Limit Bill Passes House, as Senate Dems Work on Rival Legislation

'I stuck my neck out a mile to get an agreement with the president of the United States,' Mr Boehner (L) said, referring to failed negotiations with Mr Obama earlier this month

Source: FoxNews.com

Posted:July 29, 2011

With the U.S. moving perilously closer to defaulting on its loans, the House passed an increase in the federal debt limit as part of Speaker John Boehner’s third version of a deficit-reduction bill, which includes a balanced budget amendment — a pivotal provision for securing the support of hard-line Republicans.

The bill passed in a 218-210 vote, with all House Democrats opposed, as well as 22 Republicans. But it isn’t likely to advance in the Senate, where Democrats are working on rival legislation ahead of the Treasury’s Tuesday deadline to increase the debt limit.

he White House looked past the Boehner bill to a compromise that the president will sign.

“Now that yet another political exercise is behind us, with time dwindling, leaders need to start working together immediately to reach a compromise that avoids default and lays the basis for balanced deficit reduction,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in a statement after the vote.

Boehner rallied his troops around his plan in a passionate speech on the House floor ahead of the vote that drew roaring applause from Republicans.

“I stuck my neck out a mile to get an agreement with the president of the United States,” he said. “It’s time for the administration and time for our colleagues across the aisle to put something on the table. Tell us where you are!”

The House vote sets up a showdown with the majority Democrats in the Senate and President Obama. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid vowed to kill the Boehner bill once it arrived in the Senate and said he plans to move ahead with his own proposal to cut $2.5 trillion from the deficit over a decade.

But realizing time is short, he pledged to work with Senate Republicans on a compromise with a procedural vote Friday night, leading to possible votes before dawn Sunday morning.

A framework that would be under serious discussion is a hybrid of the various proposals. It would raise the debt ceiling in two stages: the first would feature the Boehner bill’s cuts (about $900 billion) and raise the debt ceiling through this year.

The second debt ceiling increase would occur if the president sent a request to Congress. Lawmakers would have to disapprove of the increase with a super majority to deny the increase. The bill would feature a commission to find savings from revenue and entitlements and authorize deep spending cuts without a commission plan passing Congress.

Earlier Friday, Obama said it’s time to move forward with debt-reduction legislation that can be supported by both political parties. Obama said Reid has introduced cuts that can be supported by Republicans and Democrats, adding that he needs a plan he can sign by Tuesday, the deadline imposed by the administration as the drop-dead date for avoiding default on the nation’s debt.