Sen. Murray sees ‘no deals on the debt ceiling’

{mosads}“I am confident that they will come together with some mishmash policy of everything in the bag they’ve ever promised to the Tea Party, attach it to the debt ceiling, and try and send it over,” she said in an interview on Political Capital with Al Hunt to air Friday. 

When asked if Republicans would ultimately capitulate, Murray said, “They did last time.”

Republicans agreed on a plan earlier this year to delay a battle on the debt limit. In 2011, the agreement to raise the debt ceiling brought about a failed plan to hammer out a debt-reduction package and led to the sequester.  

Murray also said she is hopeful that Republicans “who feel they have to have a temper tantrum before” they agree to a plan to fund the government will get over it quickly so Congress can move on. 

Murray reiterated President Obama’s position that he will not haggle over the debt ceiling, admitting he has before.

“He won’t,” she said. “I think he has before, but he is not going to repeal ObamaCare.”

The Treasury Department says Congress must raise the limit around mid-October before the U.S. begins defaulting on its debt. House Republicans have said they will likely vote to raise the debt ceiling along with a number of GOP priorities, including approving construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and delaying ObamaCare. 

Murray said she understands that raising the debt ceiling does not sound appealing to the public and is not popular in polling. But inaction would be devastating, she said.

“We’ve been through this before, and our credit was downgraded,” she said. “Wall Street was devastated by our inaction, inability to raise the debt ceiling to pay our bills.  How is it good for our economy to do that? I do not understand the rhetoric around the debt limit.”