GOP offer: Temporarily raise the debt limit

House Republicans will offer Democrats a plan for a short-term debt ceiling increase that would give lawmakers more time to negotiate a deal to reopen the government and avoid default, Republican House leaders announced Thursday.

The proposal would raise the federal borrowing limit for six weeks and be passed before Oct. 17, the date the Treasury Department says is the final day the government can make payments on all its debts.

House Republican lawmakers met Thursday in a closed-door meeting, where Republican House Speaker John Boehner pitched the plan.

Boehner and his deputies said after the meeting that the offer for a clean debt limit increase comes with a requirement that Republicans and Democrats meet in a formal conference committee to discuss a broader deal to reopen the government and increase the debt limit for a longer period of time. The new Republican offer comes without a proposal to open the government, which has been shut down since Oct. 1.

The offer would provide more time to continue the debate over the government shutdown, which Boehner said Wednesday would include a demand to delay parts of the 2010 federal health care law.

“We’re looking for a structure that puts us on a path to get a budget, to take care of the debt,” House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy said after the meeting.

A White House official on Thursday reiterated, however, that President Barack Obama would not negotiate formally with Republicans until Congress reopened the federal government and raised the debt limit.

“Once Republicans in Congress act to remove the threat of default and end this harmful government shutdown, the president will be willing to negotiate on a broader budget agreement to create jobs, grow the economy and put our fiscal house in order,” the official said. “While we are willing to look at any proposal Congress puts forward to end these manufactured crises, we will not allow a faction of the Republicans in the House to hold the economy hostage to its extraneous and extreme political demands.”

On Thursday afternoon, House Republican leaders and committee chairs are scheduled to meet with Obama to discuss the proposal and a path forward on both issues.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/new-gop-offer--temporarily-aise-the-debt-limit--then-negotiate-over-shutdown-154918931.html
Category: mlb   alexander skarsgard   Anastasia Ashley   marc anthony   Rolling Stone magazine