House raises debt limit to $14.3 trillion

House Democrats on Thursday cleared a massive $1.9 trillion
increase to the debt limit and a statutory pay-as-you-go bill aimed at
preventing even more red ink.

A procedural motion on the increase in the debt ceiling to
roughly $14.3 trillion barely passed on a 217-212 vote. No Republicans voted to
move forward with the increase, which was opposed by 37 Democrats, most of them
in swing districts who face tough races in November.

A vote to clear the pay-go bill and the debt increase passed
on a wider margin, 233-187, again only with Democratic support.

{mosads}The measure, approved by the Senate last week, will now go
to the president’s desk.

The pay-go bill would require that any new mandatory
spending, such as new tax cuts or entitlement programs, be offset with revenue
through tax hikes or spending cuts. Democrats called it a necessary step toward
more balanced budgets, and said it was in place during the 1990s, when the
government ran surpluses.

Former President Bill Clinton said that Democrats will
benefit politically from reinstating the budget enforcement measure.

“I think this is important for our party because it reminds
people that for 30 years we’ve had a better record on the economy than
Republicans,” Clinton said in a conference call.

With the federal debt expected to hit its limit this month,
the increase to the debt level was needed to allow the government to continue
borrowing and avoid default.

Democratic leaders characterized a yes vote on the debt
limit motion as a vote for responsibility. They said any member who voted for
policies that weren’t paid for, such as the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the
Medicare prescription drug benefit and stimulus measures under both the Bush
and Obama administrations, should feel an obligation to vote for the debt limit
increase.

But a handful of Democrats voted against the measure to protest
deficits that are expected to average $850 billion over the next decade.

“At some point, we have to put some downward pressure on
federal expenditures,” said Rep. David Wu (D-Ore.).

GOP members blasted Democrats for pushing costly policies
that will add further to the country’s red ink, such as the $787 billion
stimulus, and dismissed the Democrats’ pay-go law as ineffective.

Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) accused Democrats of doing one
thing with the pay-go bill and another by allowing more debt.

Democrats are seeking to “run up the debt not only to a
level that is unprecedented, but unstable,” he said.

The pay-go law won’t apply to several expensive policies
that Democrats plan to extend: the middle-class tax cuts passed during the Bush
administration, a fix to the Alternative Minimum Tax to keep it from hitting
middle-income Americans, Medicare doctor payments and the 2009 estate and gift
tax rates. Lawmakers, however, will eventually have to find a way to pay for
all but the Bush-era tax cuts, as the exemptions for the other policies end in
five years or less.

Fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats had told Democratic
leaders last year that they would support big-ticket items, such as the $787
billion stimulus and the $3.5 trillion 2010 budget, only if they committed to
passing a statutory pay-go bill. Blue Dogs broke out in applause Thursday in
the House chamber when the pay-go vote was gaveled down by Majority Leader
Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).

“You hear a lot from the other side about how this Congress
is spending money excessively, but they offer no real solutions to get us back
on a pathway to fiscal responsibility,” said Rep. Baron Hill (D-Ind.), a
senior Blue Dog. “This is the proven method to get us back on that
path.”

Jared Allen contributed to this article