With a U.S. budget deal behind them, Republicans now plan to extract something from President Barack Obama in exchange for raising the nation’s debt ceiling.

They just haven’t decided what yet.

The budget agreement the Senate is poised to pass today sets higher spending levels for two years, without raising the debt limit. Democrats want to increase U.S. borrowing authority without conditions. Republicans reject that.

“Every time the president asks us to raise the debt ceiling is a good time to achieve something significant for the country,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said yesterday. “The debt ceiling legislation is a time that brings us all together and gets the president’s attention.”

Congress suspended the debt limit through Feb. 7 as part of a deal to end a partial government shutdown in October. After that date, the government can use so-called extraordinary measures to prevent missed payments. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew has said those steps can last for about a month.

Republicans want further spending cuts as the budget deficit’s share of the economy falls to its lowest level since November 2008. The deficit was 4 percent of the gross domestic product as of Sept. 30, down from a high of 10.1 percent in February 2010.

Republican leaders are considering several proposals to add any measure that would increase the debt limit, from a delay or repeal of the individual mandate in the health-care law to energy and tax-code changes. Republicans probably will set their plans after an annual policy retreat in late January.

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Ron Johnson, “I’d like to think that Democrats are concerned enough with real Americans and their lives that they’d join us in those efforts,” ?..giggle, silly man


Getting funding for their states is their job and how they keep office. That's why I can't get all up in arms over every individual Sen. or Congressman. If the state keeps them, thats that, it's the voters choice.