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xchrom

(108,903 posts) Wed Oct 16, 2013, 09:40 AM Oct 2013

Liveblog: Senate to Unveil Deal Hours Before Debt Limit Deadline

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/10/it-looks-house-tea-partiers-have-finally-lost-budget-civil-war/70551/

After spending 24 hours watching a House proposal emerge and then crumble, Senate leaders on Tuesday night apparently finalized a proposal to avoid default. The question remaining: Can it pass the House — and quickly enough?

According to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, Thursday is the date on which the government might for the first time be unable to pay its debt obligations — a scenario which could cause enormous disruptions in the global economy. On Tuesday, House Republicans struggled to develop a plan that might satisfy its most conservative wing, eventually determining that no proposal could do so. At some point on Wednesday morning, Senate leadership is expected to unveil a deal hammered out last night — perhaps similar to its Monday proposal, minus the delay of one Obamacare-related tax.

Default could (could) happen in as soon as 23 hours, and 19 minutes — first thing Thursday morning.

Updates

9:17 a.m.: And now the Houston Chronicle says it regrets endorsing Ted Cruz.

9:10 a.m.: Senate Democrats said they would roll out their compromise plan this morning, Fox's Chad Pergram reports.

8:43 a.m.: The Wall Street Journal has had enough of the House Republicans.

This is the quality of thinking—or lack thereof—that has afflicted many GOP conservatives from the beginning of this budget showdown. They picked a goal they couldn't achieve in trying to defund ObamaCare from one House of Congress, and then they picked a means they couldn't sustain politically by pursuing a long government shutdown and threatening to blow through the debt limit.