John Cornyn: Of Course We're Going To Raise The Debt Ceiling

The Republicans are waving their hands and saying, "This is not the hill you are looking to fight on. Move along".

“We will raise the debt ceiling. We’re not going to default on our debt,” the Republican whip said. ”I will tell you unequivocally, we’re not going to default.”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has also said that the debt ceiling must be raised. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has said the borrowing limit should not be used for leverage: “If you incur an obligation, you have a responsibility to pay for that,” she told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

While Cornyn doesn't rule out spending cuts as part of the hike, the Democrats don't want that. It's hard to see once you take default off the table what Obama's motivation to cut spending is.

Of course John Boehner explicitly promised to include spending cuts "equal to or grater than" the hike in the debt limit before and after caving on the fiscal cliff.

Some House Republicans argue that the Treasury can avoid default by prioritizing which bills to pay (service the debt first). A former George W. Bush Treasury official disagrees with that.

Let's be honest, the GOP is going to cave on the debt ceiling and get nothing for it. The real question is, will they actually let sequestration (you know the spending cuts the "won" in the last debt fight) happen or will they kick it down the road again to the next hill they will retreat from, the Continuing Resolution?

Let's put it this way...that clanking sound you here is a can being kicked down a road.

Aside from getting rolled on everything the GOP's biggest problem is they look like idiots in the process. If you can't win fights, stop saying you want to fight and think you'll win.

Over promising and under delivering is the worst of all possible worlds.

posted by DrewM. at 11:35 AM

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