Nancy Pelosi tried hard this evening (in the post WH meeting presser) to position the Democrats in order to disavow the inevitable but now Bloomberg is reporting that:
- *HOUSE REPUBLICAN PLAN WOULD LINK SHUTDOWN, DEBT-LIMIT FIGHTS
House Republican leaders plan to bring up a measure to raise the U.S. debt-limit as soon as next week as part of a new attempt to force President Barack Obama to negotiate on the budget by merging the disputes over ending the government shutdown and raising the debt ceiling into one fiscal fight. This is not what most sell-side strategists expected as a base-case; in fact it is close to a worst-case for many - especially given Obama's apparent unwillingness to negotiate. [6]
Via Bloomberg,
House Republican leaders plan to bring up a measure to raise the U.S. debt-limit as soon as next week as part of a new attempt to force President Barack Obama to negotiate on the budget, according to three people with knowledge of the strategy.
The approach would merge the disputes over ending the government shutdown and raising the debt ceiling into one fiscal fight.
“I’d like to get one agreement and be done,” House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy told reporters today without offering details.
Republican leaders are attempting to pair their party’s priorities with a debt-limit increase, a plan they shelved last month to focus on a stopgap measure to fund the government in the new fiscal year. The goal is to have a bill ready in coming days, even without resolving the partial government shutdown, according to a Republican lawmaker and two leadership aides who asked not to be identified to discuss the strategy.
So... uh...
The President made clear to the Leaders that he is not going to negotiate over the need for Congress to act to reopen the government."
But the Republicans plan to link the debt ceiling to the re-opening of government...
It seems - as President Obama warned - this time is different (no matter how much the Fed tries to do, we suspect the politicians 'need' a crash to get something done)...