Don’t Be Fooled By Eric Cantor’s Desperate and Bogus Offer to Raise the Debt Ceiling

Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 02:16 am

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Eric Cantor issued a statement saying that the House would authorize a 3 month debt ceiling increase as long as the House and Senate agree on a budget, and by agree he means Senate passage of the Ryan budget.

In a statement Cantor said,

The first step to fixing this problem is to pass a budget that reduces spending. The House has done so, and will again. The Democratic Senate has not passed a budget in almost four years, which is unfair to hardworking taxpayers who expect more from their representatives. That ends this year.

We must pay our bills and responsibly budget for our future. Next week, we will authorize a three month temporary debt limit increase to give the Senate and House time to pass a budget. Furthermore, if the Senate or House fails to pass a budget in that time, Members of Congress will not be paid by the American people for failing to do their job. No budget, no pay.

This is the first step to get on the right track, reduce our deficit and get focused on creating better living conditions for our families and children. It’s time to come together and get to work.

Eric Cantor’s offer is totally bogus. Rep. Cantor was proposing that as long as the Senate will agree with the House on budget, the House will raise the debt ceiling for 90 days. Cantor expects the Senate to trade three months of debt ceiling for one year of spending cuts. Look carefully at what Cantor proposed. He didn’t propose that the Senate has to pass a budget. He said that the House and Senate both have to pass a budget. Rep. Cantor was referring to a budget that both the House and Senate agree to, not just a Senate budget.

The problem is that House and Senate can’t agree on a budget. The Senate has rejected the Ryan budget in 2011 and 2012. All of the recent Republican budget proposals have followed same model of calling for deep cuts in the social safety net along with turning Medicare into a voucher program. In short, the House keeps passing ideological budgets that are complete non starters in the Senate.

Anyone who suggests that Cantor wants the Senate to just pass a budget is incorrectly reading his statement. Cantor is trying to ransom the Senate into passing a version of the House budget. What Cantor is really saying is, “We’ll let the hostage live for three more months, if you promise to help us kill it this year.” His offer isn’t a pathway to a budget. It is a desperate attempt to get out of the latest crushing self created House Republican crisis.

If the Senate were to agree to Cantor’s offer, the pressure would be on them to pass a budget. This simply isn’t going to happen.

Rep. Cantor’s offer is a sign of the House’s increasing desperation to get out of a fight that they know they can’t win. As usual with House Republicans, Cantor offer was another political stunt designed to get the right wing radicals out of the latest corner that they have painted themselves into.

The debt ceiling has nothing do with the Senate budget. The debt ceiling is all about House Republicans paying their bills.

Democrats agree that there is only one solution available. This isn’t a negotiation. House Republicans must do their jobs and raise the debt ceiling.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association