by The time has come to face the music…the debt music that is. Today, Sunday, there will be a key procedural vote to stop the GOP filibuster and to get the debt debate finished. The vote will take place today at 1 p.m. ET, rather than the originally proposed 1 a.m. Majority Leader Harry Reid called for the delay because he said that there are a number of key elements that need to be finalized.As he said,
“We should give everyone as much room as possible to do their work.”
Under the Gun
The time pressure, of course, surrounds the potential national default that will occur next week if Congress fails to raise the national debt ceiling.Saturday was filled with negotiations, arguments and last minute measures to get the talks in place and to move into action. Democratic and Republican leaders seemed at odds about whether or not they were making any progress. While both Boehner, R-Ohio and McConnell declared at one time during the day that they were getting close to a deal, Reid made sure to take the Senate floor to counter this assertion.He said that the Republicans were holding press conferences that were meaningless and that they “refuse to negotiate in good faith. He continued by saying that “The process has not been moved forward during this day.”
Problems Up Ahead
Among the many problems up ahead, Americans may be faced with rising interest rates and with a declining dollar if the current $14.3 trillion debt ceiling isn’t raised by Congress by August 2. Some financial experts have also warned that these issues could lead to a downgrade of America’s triple-A credit rating and to potential stock market issues.Without the debt limit, many people will feel the impact quite personally. The federal government isn’t confident that it will be able to pay all of its bills next month, and Obama already warned the public that not all Social Security checks will be mailed out on time.As Obama warned, “This is not a situation where the two parties are miles apart.” But “we are almost out of time.”
