Obama Rejects Latest House GOP Offer
on Sat, 12 Oct 2013
President Obama used his weekly radio address to reject the latest offer from House Republicans to end the fiscal stalemate. The outline of their proposal was released Friday and would have reopened government through December and lifted the debt ceiling for six weeks.
"It wouldn’t be wise, as some suggest, to just kick the debt ceiling can down the road for a couple months, and flirt with a first-ever intentional default right in the middle of the holiday shopping season," Obama said in his address.
"Because damage to America’s sterling credit rating wouldn’t just cause global markets to go haywire; it would become more expensive for everyone in America to borrow money," Obama continued. "Students paying for college. Newlyweds buying a home,"
On Friday, Senate Republicans floated the outlines of their own plan to end the standoff. Their proposal would lift the debt ceiling through the end of January and reopen the government for six months. The dueling proposals put Obama in the enviable position of choosing between his opponents. He can reject one proposal and still look Presidential by negotiating on a competing offer. Obama said Friday he would look for the "best deal."
On Saturday, the House Republicans are meeting to finalize the details of the plan they released Friday. Obama's rejection of even the outlines of that plan make the next moves by the House uncertain. The Senate, meanwhile, moves back to center-stage of the debate with a vote Saturday afternoon on a one-year increase in the debt ceiling.
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