Obama Stands Tall and Says No To Boehner’s Faux Debt Ceiling Hike Offer

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President Obama refused the House Republicans a way out of their manufactured economic crisis. The White House responded to Boehner’s faux debt ceiling offer with a quick no.

The White House quickly put out a statement stopping Speaker Boehner’s latest attempt to weasel out of the crisis that he created by offering a short term debt ceiling increase, but still refusing to open the government.

THe White House said,

The President has made clear that he will not pay a ransom for Congress doing its job and paying our bills. It is better for economic certainty for Congress to take the threat of default off the table for as long as possible, which is why we support the Senate Democrats’ efforts to raise the debt limit for a year with no extraneous political strings attached.

The President also believes that the Republican Leadership in the House should allow for an up or down vote on the clean continuing resolution passed by the Senate that would pass with a bipartisan majority to reopen the government. 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.

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. Congress needs to pass a clean debt limit increase and a funding bill to reopen the government.

Boehner and the House Republicans are trying to split the baby. They want to appease the tea party, but they don’t want to be blamed for a default. What Speaker Boehner offered today was, to use one of his favorite expressions, to kick the can down the road. House Republicans aren’t giving up anything with this offer. They would still get to keep their government shutdown hostage, and they would only delay default for six weeks.

Boehner and Cantor are looking for an escape hatch. House Republican leadership was pushing the spin during their press conference that today’s meeting is a negotiation with the president, but it isn’t. There will be no negotiations until after House Republicans open the government. Obama and Senate Democrats don’t want to play this game again in six weeks. The American people don’t want to keep playing these games.

House Republicans can’t offer half baked proposals that don’t live up to all of their constitutional duties. They don’t get to pick and chose which parts of the Constitution that they will follow. Obama and Senate Democrats have a clear goal in mind for the debt ceiling. They want an increase through December of 2014.

Anything short of reopening the government with a clean CR, and a clean debt ceiling increase will be met with a no from the White House and Senate Democrats. Republicans still have just one way out of this mess. Boehner needs to hold a vote on a clean CR, and then vote to 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