House Speaker John Boehner finds himself in a tricky position as the deadline to raise the debt ceiling approaches.
House Speaker John Boehner and the tea party movement have been on something of a political honeymoon for the first six months of this year.
But, the coming fight over whether or not to raise the debt ceiling -- essentially raising the limit the country can borrow -- has the potential to break up that happy marriage.
Tea party aligned Republicans have insisted that without major cuts to federal spending and an overhaul of the tax system they simply won't vote to raise the debt ceiling.
And there is a growing movement in Congress -- led by Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey -- that insists that there's no real chance that the country would default on our debts. Toomey has said it's "irresponsible for the administration to even implicitly threaten the possibility of a default."
Boehner, for his part, has tried to strike a hard line on the debt ceiling debate, arguing that there will need to be trillions of dollars in cuts for Republicans to consider a "yes" vote on raising the country's borrowing limit.
But, as the August deadline draws closer, Boehner will come under considerable pressure from the White House and the establishment wing of his party to compromise for the good of the country.
And any sort of deal will not sit well with a tea party who believes that compromise amounts to capitulation.
So far, Boehner has proven skillful at keeping the party establishment and the tea party living together under one roof. But the debt limit fight will test his match-making skills like no other issue he's yet faced.
----
Get The Fix in your e-mail inbox! Click here to sign-up for the Morning Fix newsletter. Click here for the Afternoon Fix newsletter. Follow The Fix on Twitter @thefix or @thehyperfix.
No comments:
Post a Comment