The US debt ceiling can be raised by a simple vote of Congress. It is a single issue and does not need to be tied to spending cuts. It's been done countless times--eight times under George W. Bush--and most of the public were not even aware it happened.
However, Republican and especially Tea Party Republicans will not agree to vote for an increase in the debt limit unless it is tied to spending cuts. They are holding the vote to approve a debt ceiling increase hostage to getting their way.
They are ideologists, and they won't bend--even if it means dealing a reproach to Speaker of the House John Boehner. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin (D) said, "The so-called Tea Party is unreasonable, and if we wait on them I'm afraid it's going to have a bad outcome."
As I said in a recent posting, the fact that enough voters sent these Right-Wing extremists to Congress is the reason for this present debt-ceiling mess.
Copyright (c) 2011 by Richard Stein
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