Free Republic

The Democratic-controlled Senate on Friday narrowly voted to block a Republican measure that would force Congress to pass a stringent balanced budget amendment and cap spending before increasing the debt ceiling. The legislation, a conservative priority, never had a chance of passing, but the strictly partisan 51-46 vote to table the “Cut, Cap and Balance” bill highlighted the partisan divide in Washington over how to tackle spending and raise the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt limit.

John Boehner and the Republican caucus in the House passed the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act as promised on a near-party-line vote tonight, 234-190. The move puts the onus back on the White House to propose an alternative or assume responsibility for killing the debt-ceiling hike it contains: Defying a veto threat, the Republican-controlled House passed legislation Tuesday night to slice federal spending by $6 trillion and require a constitutional balanced budget amendment to be sent to the states in exchange for averting a threatened government default.The 234-190 vote marked the power of deeply conservative first-term Republicans, and stood in...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) this morning said he’s waiting for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to let him know what kind of debt limit deal would be able to pass the House, The Hill reports. But Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has a message for Mr. Reid: The House showed the Senate the way forward last night, when it voted 234 to 190 to pass the RSC-initiated “Cut, Cap and Balance” legislation. The bill would cut spending by more than $100 billion in 2012, cap spending over the next decade and make a debt limit increase...

Reid says he's waiting on Boehner to tell him 'path forward' on debtBy Josiah Ryan - 07/20/11 10:35 AM ET Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday claimed his chamber has a "path forward" for raising the debt ceiling but said he's waiting on Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to tell him what can pass the House. “I'm at a point where I'm saying we need to hear from the House of Representatives,” Reid said from the Senate floor. “We have a plan to go forward over here. But until we hear from the House of Representatives, really our, all...