Raise The Roof (Or the Debt Ceiling...)

Negotiations to raise the debt ceiling for six weeks were over almost as quickly as they began. Late Thursday night, we started to hear that Congressional Republicans were going to meet with the White House to discuss possible negotiations. But early Saturday morning, House Republicans left their meeting with no deals and no plans for the coming days.[1]

           

With the threat of the nation’s default hanging over their heads, Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader McConnell (R-KY) met to negotiate.[2] On Saturday, Senator Reid introduced a bill that would raise the debt ceiling to 1.1 trillion which would keep our country from defaulting until after the elections in 2014.[3] Unfortunately, fewer than sixty senators voted to proceed to debate which means that cloture on the motion to proceed was not achieved.[4]

           

In layman’s terms, that means that not enough Senators voted to debate on the bill. The vote fell mostly along party lines, with 53 Senators voting for the motion and 45 voting against. 60 Senators must vote yes to achieve cloture (which basically ends debate on something).[5]

Senator Reid, however, at the last minute, switched his vote to a no, which leaves him the opportunity to bring up the same bill at a later time.[6]

The Senate is debating again today, and we will all (well, maybe just me) anxiously await the possibility of a bill that will fix our most recent fiscal crisis.

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[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/us/politics/budget-and-debt-limit-debate.html?_r=0

[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/us/politics/budget-and-debt-limit-debate.html?_r=0

[3] http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/328225-white-house-slams-senate-gop-for-blocking-debt-ceiling-hike-

[4] http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/328225-white-house-slams-senate-gop-for-blocking-debt-ceiling-hike-

[5] http://democrats.senate.gov/2013/10/12/roll-call-vote-on-cloture-on-mtp-to-s-1569-debt-limit-dec-31-2014/

[6] http://democrats.senate.gov/2013/10/12/roll-call-vote-on-cloture-on-mtp-to-s-1569-debt-limit-dec-31-2014/