Capitol Calling
Missouri's irreverent and vital news source.
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U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis City, was also asked about the prospects of bipartisanship returning, especially after a nasty fight over raising the nation’s debt ceiling.
You can hear his response by clicking on the above video.
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Conservatives have already been called terrorists by our vice president – it is not the respect of the other side we have won. They get to keep spending and we get to hope for spending cuts and pray that tax increases do not happen.
It is a sad, disturbing state of affairs when this embarrassment of a deal is rationally called a victory. I would have voted “no.” I think the immediate consequences that might befall the economy are less than those consequences of continuing on even with the thin patina of responsibility this bill affords.
Ed Martin, a Republican contender for the 2nd Congressional District seat -
Washington needs to change its ways and it needs new conservative leaders who do what they say they will do. When I signed the cut, cap and balance pledge, I meant it. We need to cut spending, cap government growth and balance the budget. I appreciate the difficult challenge that Republicans faced in this fight, and recognize these challenges were exacerbated by President Obama’s dismal failure of leadership.
However, I cannot support this deal for three reasons. First, the Balanced Budget Amendment provision is toothless without a passage requirement. Second, the compromise puts our national security at risk with deep, unacceptable cuts to our national defense. Finally, this deal opens the door to job-destroying tax increases. For these reasons, I do not support this debt ceiling deal.
Ann Wagner, a Republican candidate for the 2nd Congressional District -
While I don’t believe this is the best possible bill, it is the best bill possible at this time. No one party controls everything in Washington, so by definition, no party is going to be entirely happy with this agreement. However, this legislation is the best we can do right now, and it begins the process of changing Washington’s spending behavior. We need to use it as a first step to ensure that we continue to rein in federal spending and focus on policies that help spur private sector job creation.U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.
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Here is a video of Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., on Hardball with Chris Matthews. Matthews asked the first-term senator about the political skirmish to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.
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Finally, here is a clip of Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., talking about efforts to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.
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Right before he spoke to attendees of a jobs fair at Harris-Stowe University, U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis City, talked about his vote for a measure raising the nation’s debt ceiling. Clay joined U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, in voting for the measure earlier this month, which didn’t even come close to passing.
Clay was at Harris-Stowe Monday to talk with attendees of a jobs fair that he sponsored. Nearly 106 companies were attendance, which Clay said was the most that had come to the event.
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The U.S. House yesterday voted down legislation that would have raised the nation’s debt ceiling. It was for all intents and purposes a proposal that had little chance of passing and was decried by some Democrats a “sham” vote.
But two members of the state’s congressional delegation - U.S. Reps. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis City, and Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City - voted for the proposal. And Cleaver even wrote a lengthy Facebook post explaining why raising the debt ceiling is necessary, noting “we must now increase the debt ceiling to avoid economic cataclysm:”
Judging from the nutbuckets on television these days, you would not think that the debt ceiling and the debate on whether or not to raise it was a bipartisan issue. Congress has raised the federal debt ceiling limit 10 times in the past 10 years—under both Republican and also Democratic-led Congresses.
Without another increase, the government will either default on its bonds or have to slash spending by about 40 percent. All economists—at least those who are not engaged in quackery—agree that we must raise the debt ceiling. My colleagues across the aisle are using the full faith and credit of the United States as a bargaining chip—they say they will not vote for an increase without big additional cuts in spending. We need to raise the debt ceiling. Until we do, the Department of the Treasury will do its best to ensure that we meet our obligations, but this can only go so far. On August 2, 2011, we will start to default. And defaulting on our financial obligations, for the first time in history, as President Ronald Reagan once said, would be “unthinkable.”
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Additionally, here’s a video of House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, discussing the lingering controversy on raising the nation’s debt ceiling.
