Friday, July 29, 2011

White House Statement on House Bill Killed by Senate and Senate Bill Anew

I'm usually an optimist, but as the economy slows and this debt ceiling debacle rages on, I fear the economy can't withstand politicians. I'm thinking we have a double dip coming on. All this wrangling has started to hit the markets and cities.
From the White House:
The bill passed today in the House with exclusively Republican votes would have us face another debt ceiling crisis in just a few months by demanding the Constitution be amended or America defaults. This bill has been declared dead on arrival in the Senate. Now that yet another political exercise is behind us, with time dwindling, leaders need to start working together immediately to reach a compromise that avoids default and lays the basis for balanced deficit reduction.

Senator Reid’s proposal is a basis for that compromise. It not only achieves more deficit reduction than the bill passed in the House today and puts a process in place to achieve even more savings, it also removes the uncertainty surrounding the risk of default. The President urges Democrats and Republicans in the Senate to find common ground on a plan that can get support from both parties in the House – a plan the President can sign by Tuesday.

Some moderate republicans, including Scott Brown, are considering supporting Reid's bill.

Ten percent of the republican caucus wanted to humiliate their own speaker: