WASHINGTON– GOP House leadership just finished a press conference where they announced they will allow the debt ceiling to be increased for the next 6 weeks.
Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Republican Conference Chair, provided opening statements. “We’re going to offer legislation that will allow a temporary increase in the debt ceiling that will allow us time to continue this conversation on the shutdown,” says Rodgers.
Rodgers says that democrats have been unwilling to talk and this is causing a delay in reopening the government.
Rodgers concludes, “We hope that the president will choose negotiation over crisis, leadership over inaction, and dialogue over silence.”
Speaker Boehner says, “The president is fond of saying that no one gets everything they want in negotiations, and I agree with that. However, over the course of the last ten days we’ve been trying to talk with our democratic counterparts– they don’t want to talk. The president doesn’t want to talk.”
Boehner points out that every bill the House has passed to reopen the government the Senate rejects. Boehner says that they will allow a temporary increase in the debt ceiling as long as the president is willing to actually attend conference with them and negotiate to reopen the government.
Eric Cantor, House Majority Leader, says the debt ceiling increase is only temporary and is in exchange for President Obama’s and Senate Majority Leader Reid’s willingness to negotiate. Cantor says that he is thankful that the president is finally willing to sit down and talk.
The question is now whether or not the president and democrats will actually negotiate. If history is to replay itself then the answer is most likely no; as the House has played this card before and democratic leadership simply refuses to negotiate once they have had their demands answered.
Boehner ended with an odd joke- “If ands and buts were candy and nuts every day would be Christmas.”
UPDATE (1)
Obama has rejected the 6 week ceiling deal. Reports from the White House suggest that Obama wanted a longer term ceiling increase.
