HOUSE PASSES BILL TO SUSPEND DEBT LIMIT FOR SEVERAL MONTHS

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San Diego’s Congressional delegation splits votes

By Miriam Raftery

January 25, 2013 (Washington D.C.)—By a 285-144 vote, the House of Representative Wednesday voted to prevent the government from defaulting on its debt by suspending the federal debt limit until May 18, giving Congress time to craft a longer term solution.  The majority of Republicans supported the bill, HR 325, while most Democrats opposed – though  San Diego’s Congressional representatives voted just the opposite.

Democrats Susan Davis, Scott Peters and Juan Vargas  were among a minority of 88 Democrats who supported the bill, while Republicans Duncan Hunter and Darrell Issa were among just 33 Republicans who voted no.

“Creating a responsible budget is imperative, but the debt ceiling is the wrong tool to use for leverage, as it creates a needless risk of default and another credit downgrade,” said Peters, the newest member of San Diego’s Congressional delegation.”

Peters praised the measure for including a “no budget, no pay” provision that would block Congressional pay if a budget is not passed on time by April 15, language similar to a bill he previously cosponsored.  “If Congress can’t do its job and produce a budget, we shouldn’t collect paychecks,” Peters said.

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) said the plan puts Congress on a path to prevent a debt crisis; however he voted against HR 325. Ryan pledged that “Spending cuts are coming.” He added, “We can’t keep borrowing from our children’s future.”

 A new deadline looms March 1, when automatic sequestration spending cuts will kick in unless Congress takes action.  A threat of a government shutdown also looms on March 27, the Washington Post reports, following by potential default if a solution is not found when the debt limit suspension ends May 18.

Republicans say they aim to force Democrats to pass a budget.  But Democrts contend that the minority Is seeking to force the majority to accept cuts rejected by voters, including deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare proposed in Ryan’s budget last year . 

“The last time the American people looked at the Ryan budget [in the presidential election’ they rejected it overwhelmingly,” Cngressman George Miler (D-California) observed.


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