Under McConnell's proposal, Obama would be given the authority to order increases in the debt ceiling on his own, without direct congressional approval. Instead, Congress would vote on a resolution to block an increase. If, as would be likely, the blocking resolution passed, the president would veto it. And if Republicans and others are unable to muster the two-thirds majority needed to sustain that veto, the debt limit would be increased.
"Mitch McConnell (right) has been lecturing us for months about certainty in the economy and then he, with a straight face, says the best way to handle this problem is to allow the debt ceiling to be raised -- but only if it's with Democratic votes and you are required to do it three different times in less than a year. That's pretty cynical," she said.
McCaskill added that taking the McConnell approach would be "a huge missed opportunity to not address some of the spending cuts we need to make, some of the reforms we need to make, some of the cleaning up of the tax code and [elimination of ] special goodies for folks."
On the Republican side, Sen. Roy Blunt (right), R-Mo., a loyal member of McConnell's whip team, told the Beacon that the minority leader's proposal should be regarded only as a last-ditch option. "This is not Plan B or Plan C. In fact, it's probably Plan Z," said Blunt. However, he added with a half-smile, "we may get to Plan Z."
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