Look, a Republican Bone

House GOP may seek debt limit extension

By DAVID ESPO

   The Associated Press

   WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — House Republicans may seek a quick, short-term extension of the government’s debt limit, a move that would avoid an immediate default by the Treasury as the party seeks to maximize leverage in negotiations over spending cuts with President Barack Obama this spring, officials said Thursday.

   “All options are on the table as far as we’re concerned,” Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said at a news conference during a three day retreat of the rank and file. He said private discussions focused on how best to “achieve progress on controlling our deficits and controlling our debt.”

   Ryan declined to say how long an extension of the government’s borrowing authority is under consideration, or what conditions might be attached. Obama has said repeatedly that he favors additional deficit savings yet he will not negotiate spending cuts as part of an agreement to raise the current $16.4 trillion debt limit. Some Republicans have suggested they may seek unspecified reforms rather than reductions, perhaps trying to force the Democratic-controlled Senate to approve a budget.

   The debt limit is one of three deadlines that Congress and the administration will confront this spring. Across-the-board spending cuts begin in early March, and the government runs out of funding for many agencies and services on March 27.

Oh, forgodsake, let's not fix the problem, let's just kick the can down the road.  Come on boys, you know you have to up the limit, stop procrastinating.  WE have to pay our bills...period.  Everybody knows that means upping the debt ceiling.