Even Democrats who earlier demanded a "clean bill" without cuts voted against the bill!
Just six weeks ago Democrats were demanding a straight up or down vote on a bill to increase the debt limit free of any additional cuts or measures to control spending. The White House Spokesperson Jay Carney was on record saying that it was "imperative" that a debt-limit vote not be "held hostage to any other action, because of the consequences of not raising the debt ceiling."
In the U.S. House of Representatives, 114 Democrats signed a letter (PDF) sent to House Democrat leadership demanding that they support a straight up or down vote on a clean bill. The letter stated that "to do otherwise, or to threaten to do so or to leverage our duty to pay our bills to achieve a partisan advantage in budget disputes jeopardizes the full faith and credit of the United States of America."
Obama and House Democrats got their wish on Tuesday with the vote on a clean bill to raise the debt limit by $2 trillion with no strings attached. It went down to defeat with 318 members voting against and only 97 members voting yea. Even some Dems who had earlier signed the letter urging a vote on a clean bill refused to vote yea.
This defeat, sends a strong signal that cuts and some form of spending control MUST be enacted before additional authority is given for new borrowing. Even Democrats now recognize this reality. And the shift in this direction is largely due to the persistance and leadership of House Republicans who have refused to give way in the face of Obama scare tactics about refusing a debt ceiling increase.
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