House Rejects Obama Debt Ceiling Increase
- Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:17pm by
Tiffany Gabbay
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WASHINGTON (The Blaze/AP) — The GOP-controlled House on Wednesday kicked off another session with a protest vote against raising the government’s borrowing cap by $1.2 trillion, but the maneuver amounted to political theater under a process stacked on purpose in President Barack Obama’s favor.
The nearly party-line 239-176 vote puts the House on record against Obama’s use of unprecedented authority – awarded to him through a mechanism devised by the Senate’s top Republican – to unilaterally raise the so-called debt limit unless Congress can muster the votes to block him.
The Senate is sure to kill the measure next week, and Obama‘s veto power serves as a final guarantee that the increase will go through as intended and that the nation won’t face another debt crisis like last summer.
The political dance choreographed under last summer’s Budget Control Act was designed to permit lawmakers, mostly Republicans, to vote against debt increases but not actually block them – and provoke a first-ever, market-rattling default on U.S. government obligations.
The debate offered tea party-backed GOP freshmen an almost three-hour opportunity before C-Span cameras to cast blame on the White House and Democratically controlled Senate for the nation’s fiscal ills. The national debt has skyrocketed during Obama’s first term – from $10.6 trillion on Inauguration Day to $15.2 trillion today.
AP adds that $1 trillion of the increase can be attributed to Obama’s 2009 deficit-financed economic stimulus bill.
“Instead of giving the President more power to spend money we do not have, Congress should work together to find ways to cut spending and put America back on a path to fiscal responsibility,” said Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C.
“Today’s vote will clearly show the American people who in this chamber want to further grow the size of government, let it intrude further into the private sector, and give more power Washington bureaucrats to meddle in the everyday lives of American citizens,” said Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-Ill. “And in contrast, it will show those of us who believe that a smaller government increases our constituents’ liberty.”
Democrat Jared Polis of Colorado said that under last year’s nonbinding House GOP budget plan, the national debt would have risen by more than $5 trillion over the coming decade anyway. And he pointed out that the new borrowing authority is needed to pay for a $1 trillion-plus omnibus spending bill that many Republicans supported just last month.
“We’re here playing a counter-productive and absurd game,” Polis said.
“Let’s be honest with the American people,” said Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland. “We’ve all incurred a debt. We all spent the money. We drove on the roads. We were defended abroad. We invested in health care research. We all incurred these debts.”
Even one GOP veteran said Wednesday’s debate was a futile exercise, given how the August debt pact intentionally stacked the cards in Obama’s favor.
“We have, in effect, given the president of the United States the ability to raise the debt ceiling without us … having any control whatsoever,” said veteran Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind. “We gave the president carte blanche and it’s dead wrong.”
Conservative groups weren’t joining in the GOP pep rally. The Club for Growth, which raises campaign cash for free-market conservative candidates, issued a half-dozen “Debt Hypocrisy Alerts” blasting lawmakers like Jim Renacci, R-Ohio, Tom Rooney, R-Fla., and Tom Reed, R-N.Y., for touting their support for Wednesday’s measure after voting to increase the debt limit last summer.
Courtesy of CSPAN, watch Rep. Ron Paul deliver a speech on the House floor against raising the debt ceiling:
Democrats went through the motions as well, arguing against a measure that they know isn’t going anywhere.
“They‘re playing with fire and that’s reckless. They know that others will put out the fire. And we’ll vote, many of us, to do that today, and if we don’t succeed, the Senate will do so,” said Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich. “This, I think, is worse than a charade because it really assumes that the agenda of this congress should essentially be a kind of a plaything.”
The House passed a similar resolution in September after Obama used his authority to raise the debt cap by $500 billion.
Last year’s debt agreement permits a total debt limit increase of $2.1 trillion in exchange for an equivalent amount in spending cuts, which would be spread out over the coming decade. The first $900 billion comes from caps on the day-to-day operations of federal agencies.
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Comments (110)
LogicalMetaphysician
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 11:30pm534 counts of treason. Ron Paul excepted.
Report Post »recoveringneocon
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 9:55amSantorum voted to Raise the Debt Ceiling 5 times
Report Post »Anamah
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 9:57amCongress is the only thing to defend at least a little America from this devastation president is producing. He came to power to put Cloward and Piven program to collapse American system and this is exactly what is doing with the help of the corrupted media. Are we going to survive until elections? This administration is preparing a terrible hard future to all of us. Do not help him please, stop the madness. Do not allow the transformation to a socialist state… sadly we almost are!
Report Post »Jaycen
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 11:40amIgnoring the gushing Paul supporters, this is just going to turn into another media Conservative bash-fest. The Republicans will make sure to help with the bashing by strategically positioning us to look stupid without clearly communicating our positions and beliefs.
Yay!
Report Post »smithclar3nc3
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 12:51pmThis administration is preparing a terrible hard future to all of us
Report Post »I hope they aren’t planning on staying here after the election.
teamarcheson
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 12:52pmNapollitanot, read me first.
==========================================
Was That Senate Republican JOHN McCAIN?
If the Senate passed a bill, the House must ratify it too. What is going on here?
There does not seem to be anymore reason for us to write or call our Senators and House members because they have surrendered to Obama. We are no longer a Democracy. Will term limits be eliminated too.
Report Post »teamarcheson
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 12:59pmNapallitano: read me first.
===============================================
The US Armed Forces Belong To The House, They Raise The Army, Appoint Officers, And Fund It
The House should vote to order the US Armed Forced to Restore the Rule of Law to the Nation and defend us against the domestic enemies that the Army has sworn to defend against.
Report Post »teamarcheson
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 1:06pmThe GOP Will Lick Obama’s Shoes And Vote For The Ceiling
Obama only has to threaten to shut down the government and the GOP lap dogs will heal.
Most Republicans are in politics as a hobby. All of the GOPers are in Congress just for the title they get, the benefits of office, and prestige. For the GOPers being in Congress is just a hobby to them.
Report Post »db321
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 1:17pmAnother slap in America’s face from Obama. This is not the characteristics of a man running for an election – this is the blatant in your face signal of a man taking over America without an election.
Report Post »kifeb221993
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 4:53pmhttp://youtu.be/yEfy0kO_Hzc
Report Post »watch
Constantine Ivanov
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 7:25pmAgreed
Report Post »VerySeniorCitizen
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 7:37pmALL but four Republicans voted (lastAugust) to raise the debt ceiling in three troughs. This is the third section and yesterday‘s vote was a foregone conclusion BUT in no way changes the fact that the President’s authority was already approved last summer – as I already said WITH ONLY FOUR DISENTING REPUBLICAN VOTES. This was nothing but a rehash of what the House had already approved except the Republicans wanted to make it appear that they were DISALLOWING the raising of the debt ceiling. They were not – they were simply changing their minds and DISAPPROVING of it – after the fact. It was a bit of a flip-flop!!
Report Post »LaidBackTaps
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 11:00pmRomney = Obama
Report Post »majorsco
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 11:11pmWhile this house vote won’t stop the increase, it will be sure to make it OBAMA’s increase since the GOP had no one approving of it. He is spending wildly and he’s borrowing wildly so he gets the blame!
Report Post »old white guy
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 8:30amnonsense. the dems will nail this right to the repubs ass make no mistake about that. the average american is to dumb to see what is happening.
Report Post »encinom
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 10:25amIts Bohner’s increase, it s teh GOP Speaker f the house that put together the dog and pony show and the GOP house that approved it.
Report Post »johjoh
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 10:58pmOBAMA will get it. He got every thing he wont.
Report Post »JohnofOregon
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 2:21ami was beginning to think i was the only one that noticed. we owe more than our gdp. up until the last 24 months, NO COUNTRY EVER SURVIVED THAT in history, period. Greece is going to have to sell portions of their country. In the law of the sea treaty, the us proposes to quietly sell part of alaska for debt forgiveness with russia. China is now controling the state dept. Thats why we can never go back to Iraq, they own it. Any vote at this point in time to raise the debt or not to balance a budget is by definition an act of treason. Those votes undermine america.
After all these years as a reagan republican…….ron paul is starting to look smart. I am scaring myself :)
Report Post »recoveringneocon
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 10:02amJohnofOregon
Report Post »You have taken you 1st step towards Recovery.
Mr.ManZ
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 10:35pmWasn’t it Mitch McConnells Grand Idea to give this president the power to raise the debt ceiling whenever he deemed it necessary to do so in light of a failed passage in the senate or house? like a year or so ago. What I don’t however remember is it actually being included as part of a bill.
Report Post »RightThinking1
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 10:02pmThere is a very funny cartoon regarding the debt limit issue, see it here:
Report Post »http://terrellaftermath.com/Cartoon%20Archive/January%202012%20Archives/TrillionDollarToyBox2WebCR-01_16_12.jpg
FLyoverman
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:57pmHave we primaried Boehner and McConnell yet?
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:57pmNOW, for the Liberal… TANTRUM!
Report Post »Mess23
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:56pmThe 6 Trillion Dollar Man. Death by a thousand cut is so 90′s, Now they just shoot us in the head.
Economic Terrorism, if not treason, is taking place people…
Report Post »LibertarianRight
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:54pm“the increase will go through as intended and that the nation won’t face another debt crisis like last summer.”
Oh, yes we will. It’s coming down the tracks, faster and faster. We won’t have a waste of a debate over raising the limit once the Senate comes in and rubber stamps the increase, true. But the debt crisis is not a “oh, crap we have to actually live within our means now”. It’s a “we printed and borrowed so much money the dollar isn’t worth anything anymore” kind of crisis. The only “solace” we might have in this is if Europe goes through the same thing – and THE WHOLE WORLD is mired in grinding poverty the likes of which the Western World hasn’t seen since before the Industrial Revolution.
Report Post »marion
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 12:16amAbsolutely right, this will be another downgrade, which is exactly what BHO wants to do. He is now in hurry-up mode because he will not have the popular vote, and the electoral vote is going to cost him a billion dollars, and if that happens there will be another civil war.
Report Post »momprayn
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:54pmWhat I don’t understand is that any of us expected anything of any magnitude would get done while we have Obama and a Dem. Senate and…..establishment RINOs in the leadership positions. I didn’t. We still don’t have enough Tea Party/Consvs. there and we don’t have the Senate. They‘ve done some good but they aren’t going to be able to really get anything that would change things yet.
Report Post »Another reason we mustn’t forget we need to also concentrate on winning a good majority in the Senate of non-RINOs. That way even if we get a moderate President — they would keep things in check like it was meant to be. People forget it’s not only Obama — it’s all his Marxist radicals behind him and in all the big Depts./Senate, like the DOJ that are destroying us. Even if we get a moderate, all of those would leave and be replaced. So….don’t expect stuff to really change unless/until we win “big time” in the fall.
Joisey
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:50pmIts an empty vote that Obama can over-ride thanks to the terms of the last debt ceiling deal. Congress is irrelevant and we are living under a dictator, a dictator who doesn’t like America and wants to plunder its wealth.
Report Post »Locked
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:48pmMan, the Blaze is ALWAYS catering to Ron Paul! There are TOO MANY pro-Paul articles here!
… psych. But this article’s reference to him is exactly right; it just goes to show that his head is in the right place. Think Romney or Gingrich would stop for even a second to debate doing the exact same thing? Big government spenders are all the same at heart: short term solutions and shredding the Constitution.
Report Post »OlefromMN
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:45pmThat GOP under Boehner’s “leadership” has sure proven to be one smart bunch! Bunch of what is the question. Raise your hand if you didn’t see this coming…
Report Post »NancyBee
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:42pmThis is the side of Ron Paul I like…..
Report Post »recoveringneocon
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 10:00amNancyBee
This is the side of Paul I like,
PAUL’S PRO-AMERICA FOREIGN POLICY
* Make securing our borders the top national security priority.
* Avoid long and expensive land wars that bankrupt our country by using constitutional means to capture or kill terrorist leaders who helped attack the U.S. and continue to plot further attacks.
* End the nation-building that is draining troop morale, increasing our debt, and sacrificing lives with no end in sight.
* Follow the Constitution by asking Congress to declare war before one is waged.
* Only send our military into conflict with a clear mission and all the tools they need to complete the job – and then bring them home.
* Ensure our veterans receive the care, benefits, and honors they have earned when they return.
* Revitalize the military for the 21st century by eliminating waste in a trillion-dollar military budget.
* Stop taking money from the middle class and the poor to give to rich dictators through foreign aid.
Report Post »Shasta
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:39pmMost people know that the script for this new chapter of the debt ceiling debate was written as part of the deal that ended the last debt ceiling debate. The republicans will rant and rave against the democrats as destroying our country with debt, and the democrats will say the republicans are only for the rich, and obummer will call them a do nothing congress, never mind that the democrats own the senate. Then somehow, at the very last minute, a deal will be struck. Boehner will tell us what a good deal they struck, only to find out that obummer won again. Yawn. The only answer is get rid of them all.
Report Post »READRIGHTHERE
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:38pmSoon to be quoted from Obama and Reid, “But we have more checks left, and lots of ink in our pens, what do you mean we can’t spend any more money?”
Report Post »amerbur
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:36pmThis is an outrage. Congress, I will vote against anyone that votes to increase spending. Republicans, democrats…….All of you – congressmen, senators, persidents. I can see through the bull….
Report Post »KangarooJack
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:55pmWOnderful! Thank You! THIS IS SOMETHING WE CAN DO! We can voice our opinion with our ballots and we can call/e-mail/write our elected officials.
Report Post »demint.disciple
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:31pmIt’s all a game, a mere illusion.. It will be passed by monday.
Report Post »Mateytwo Barreett
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:31pmYanno, a T note just doesn;t go as far as it did the last time I went to Sam’s!
Report Post »Mateytwo Barreett
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:28pmThey’re in the huddle, QB tells his wide receiver “You’re getting the ball and scoring a touch down” , meanwhile our TIGHT end”Whatsernameboy? Ohyeah, Boehner. Well Boehner and the rest of the right side will run this play action, as a decoy. If, by some chance the left side can hold up, we’ll flop and blame the rightside, who will stand there like a bunch of third graders- wondering what the hell happened! Again! Getchasomnutsboehner!!
Report Post »KangarooJack
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:27pmGames Games and more darn Games!
Report Post »It would be a ‘breath of fresh air’ an exhilirating thrill if Boehner would ACTUALLY take the stance/hit and say NO NO NO NO NOO!
I understand this is to allow Obama to dig his hole deeper…except the sides are crumbling and THE UNITED STATES is falling into the hole!
AxelPhantom
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:26pmWe need veto proof majorities in both houses in 2012.
Report Post »Mateytwo Barreett
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:30pmDidn’t we just have that like , a year ago?
Report Post »byehlik
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:46pmNot the senate! Du!
Report Post »Shasta
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:51pm@Mateytwo, not since 2006 I believe.
Report Post »Mateytwo Barreett
Posted on January 19, 2012 at 7:33amTouchy aren’t we? What about from 2009-10? Oh, you mean “reeeeepubluican majorities? Like Snow, Brown etc, etc.
Report Post »demint.disciple
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:25pmIt’s just a game. A mere allusion.. It will be passed by monday..
Report Post »The American People
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:24pmREALLY?!?!? I’m shocked!!!!! What with the goal and desires of MOST OF THE ENTIRE COUNTRY now being to STOP SPENDING and BALANCE THE BUDGET, why would people not want him to raise the federal deficit more??? Devastate our economy then have the balls to ask for 1 trillion dollars more?! Whats wrong with you Obama, you nightmare!!!
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:24pmNo Barry, you can’t have a raise on your allowance. You have to learn to budget, by the way, speaking of budget, do you have one yet?
Report Post »boundforglory
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:28pmWouldnt that be more like; obummer do you know what the word budget even means? You cant spend yourself outta debt, but you can spend yourself into bankruptcy! Congress needs to impeach him and they can unless he had his buddy kagan pass a law to prevent it!
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:42pmIronically, Obama has gutted our military, we are going through massive program and manpower cuts, which gets no attention, AND yet, he warns the left…”You aren’t going to like my budget, social programs are getting cut.”
Report Post »So, leaving us defenseless isn’t a problem, but taking away freebies and Obama bucks is a problem. That is where people should be spotlighting.