An announcement was made today by House Speaker John Boehner that the House will vote to raise the debt ceiling this week. Remember the last time we had this discussion? It wasn’t long ago, but the delayed period ended last Friday, February 7th. On this date, the debt ceiling was reinstated. So now the U.S. Treasury must rely on ‘extraordinary measures’ to continue paying its bills until the debt limit is again raised. The Treasury estimates that its accounting magic will run out on February 27th, and so Congress again has to make a decision.
Many of these debt-ceiling debates have had the Republicans and Democrats in Washington in gridlock. This one, however, will be different. As Boehner announced today, the House will vote to increase the nation’s borrowing cap without any strings attached.
According to the Fox News Article,
Boehner’s decision to proceed with a “clean” debt-ceiling bill amounts to a capitulation by Republicans to President Obama and Capitol Hill Democrats who argued that the GOP should not attempt to use the bill as leverage to extract concessions from the administration. Conservative groups quickly condemned the decision, voicing concern that Congress would let the cap continue to rise above its current $17.3 trillion level without anything in return.
We can expect to see a vote this week since Congress is expected to spend next week in their districts for the President’s Day recess.
