House Passes Debt Limit Deal, Now Waiting For The Senate To Make Their Votes!!

The House passed a bipartisan deal to raise the debt ceiling in an 11th-hour vote Monday. The 269-161 vote, was also notable for marking Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ return to the House for the first time since she was critically injured in a shooting in Tucson, Ariz. Giffords voted yes.
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The House passed a bipartisan deal to raise the debt ceiling in an 11th-hour vote Monday despite grumbling from liberals and conservatives, who stretched the bounds of rhetoric to express their distaste for it.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, emerging briefly Monday afternoon to speak with reporters, said he was not ready “declare victory yet.” But he and his GOP counterpart, Sen. Mitch McConnell, expressed confidence they could push the bill through “quickly.”

“We need to send this to President Obama as soon as we can,” Reid said.
Congress has until the end of the day Tuesday to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling in order for the Treasury to be able to continue paying all its bills come Wednesday.
Giffords received a standing ovation after the House vote.
“We are all privilege to call her colleague. some of us very privileged to call her friend,” House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said on the House floor.
House Speaker John Boehner had to rely on a blend of Republicans and Democrats to push the bill through his chamber, with some conservatives unhappy about key provisions in the compromise.
House Democrats don’t want to carry Republicans’ water, though. Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., said earlier Monday that every Democrat who votes for the bill takes a Republican off the hook — he urged colleagues to wait until Republicans put at least 200 votes on the board “before we give them cover.”
Liberal Democrats are unhappy in part because the first phase of the plan relies solely on spending cuts — $900 billion worth of them.
The second phase of the plan relies on a special committee to come up with roughly $1.5 trillion in additional deficit reduction. Both sides are wary about what that process could produce, in terms of entitlement reform and tax reform.
And conservatives are particularly agitated about a provision that would enact sweeping defense cuts if the committee’s recommendations are not approved by the end of the year. Plus some are peeved that, while the package would call for a vote on a balanced-budget amendment, it would not require its approval in order for the debt ceiling to be increased.
Still, a number of big-name lawmakers were getting in line behind the bill.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who said he is “very concerned” about the defense spending provision, nevertheless said he will “strongly support” this package.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., echoed that sentiment.
“We’re very optimistic we’re going to do well,” McConnell said.
In the second phase of the plan, the debt ceiling will be raised by $1.5 trillion if the committee recommendations are approved by the end of the year. The size of the increase could be smaller if the approved cuts are smaller.
Each of the GOP and Democratic leaders in the chambers will nominate lawmakers to the 12-member committee to report back in the fall. The vote, to take place by Dec. 23, would be an up-or-down vote with no amendments allowed.
President Obama said everything will be on the table and both parties will find some of the cuts objectionable.
“Despite what some Republicans have argued, I believe that we have to ask the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share by giving up tax breaks and special deductions. Despite what some in my own party have argued, I believe that we need to make some modest adjustments to programs like Medicare to ensure that they’re still around for future generations. That’s why the second part of this agreement is so important,” Obama said from the White House briefing room.
Party leaders in both chambers were presenting the agreement to their rank-and-file Monday ahead of the votes.
Several objections are expected, including from Republican defense hawks who don’t want the military gutted and from the Congressional Black Caucus, which called the deal a “sugar-coated Satan sandwich.”
Boehner told his Republican caucus on a Sunday night conference call that the deal isn’t done yet. But Boehner said it does not violate GOP principles.
“We got 98 percent of what we wanted,” he said adding that the framework cuts more spending than it raises the debt limit. It also caps future spending to limits in the growth of government.
“It would also guarantee the American people the vote they have been denied in both chambers on a balanced budget amendment, while creating, I think, some new incentives for past opponents of a BBA to support it,” Boehner said.
A “trigger” in the plan would enact across-the-board cuts if the joint committee doesn’t reach at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction. If that happens, Obama would be allowed to request a $1.2 trillion debt increase and Congress would have to disapprove it subject to a presidential veto.

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