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House passes debt-limit increase: Tell us your thoughts

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by NW Spotlight

Did House Republicans strike a hard bargain considering Democrats control the Senate and the White House, or did they cave in the Federal budget game of chicken?

The Hill is reporting [2] that the US House has “approved bipartisan legislation to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling and reduce long-term budget deficits, endorsing the agreement President Obama struck with Republican leaders.”

The vote was 269-161 in the Republican-controlled House.

174 Republicans voted YES
66 Republicans voted NO
95 Democrats voted YES
95 Democrats voted NO

Republican leaders in the House see the debt-limit bill as imperfect, but one that begins to change the culture of spending in Washington. The bill enables increasing the debt ceiling by $2.1 trillion through 2012, while reducing the deficit by $1 trillion over ten years.

Nancy Pelosi, who was not happy with the bill but voted for it, said that Democrats succeeded in preventing benefit cuts to the core safety-net programs of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

House liberals feel the bill is a surrender to Republicans – one House liberal compared the bill to a “sugar-coated satan sandwich.”

House conservatives don’t like a provision that would result in sweeping defense cuts if the committee’s recommendations are not approved by the end of the year, and even though the package would call for a vote on a balanced-budget amendment, the debt ceiling could be increased even if the balanced-budget amendment is not approved.

The debt-ceiling compromise is expected to pass the Democrat-controlled Senate tomorrow at Noon.

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