快讯：众院通过新债务上限方案，将皮球扔给参议院 综合新闻
 美国东部时间7月29日晚间(北京时间7月30日早上)消息，债务上限谈判迈出关键一步，美国众议院以218票对210票通过议长博纳的新债务上限方案。但总统奥巴马周五早些时候已表示，参议院将否决该方案。
根据博纳的新债务上限方案，国会将分两步走上调政府债务上限，今年先上调9000亿(美元，下同)，同时削减赤字9170亿，再于明年2月商讨上调1.6万亿，前提是通过国会平衡政府预算的宪法修正案。
这一新方案较博纳周四提出的方案更为保守，主要是为赢得保守共和党议员的支持，因欠缺足够支持，众议院周四晚间取消就博纳方案投票。
不过，总统奥巴马周五早些时候已表示，参议院将否决博纳的方案，这一短期上调债务上限方案，将让美国经济在数月后再度受华盛顿政治绑架。他唿吁两党尽快妥协达成具共识的方案，否则美国AAA信用评级将被调降，冲击原本已疲弱的经济。商务部公布，美国第二季度经济增速初值仅1.3%，远逊预期。
而白宫新闻发言人杰-卡尔尼随后在记者会表示，总统奥巴马愿意考虑签署一项短期提高借债上限的协议，前提是这项协议能让国会议员有充足时间来完成一项长期协议。
不过，国际评级机构穆迪周五再度预警，延长的债务上限谈判让美国AAA信用评级及评级展望被调降的可能性上升。穆迪重申，一旦美国出现债务违约，不论是否很快就被弥补或是债务持有人未承受永久损失，都会调降美国评级。
此外，卡尔尼周五表示，财政部可能将于周末公布紧急应对方案，以防国会不能及时上调债务上限。而穆迪认为，届时财政部会选择优先向国债持有人支付利息，最早到期的一批国债是在8月4日，金额达590亿美元。若不能及时支付，便是违约，降级也将随之而来。
至于美国AAA评级被调降的影响，摩根大通早前指出，如果评级由AAA降至AA，则每年须多支付1000亿美元利息。不过，野村认为，全球53%AAA评级资产集中在美国国债及机构债，投资者选择不多。评级机构惠誉也指出，即便美国评级被调降，美国国债仍是全球债市基准。
受美国第二季度经济增速逊预期及债务上限谈判僵局拖累，美股三大指数周五收跌。分析指，众议院投票是谈判迈出的关键一步，降低市场不确定性，算是个好消息。
House passes Boehner’s debt ceiling plan
With days before the Aug. 2nd deadline to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, the House approved a proposal from House Speaker John Boehner. The final vote was 218 members--all Republicans--voting for the bill, with 210 against. Passage of the Boehner plan came a day after House leaders had originally intended to hold a vote on the measure--and after several days of intensive lobbying and arm twisting by Republican lawmakers.
 
Faced with the threat that Republican leaders wouldn't be able to secure enough votes within their caucus, the party postponed the floor vote until House leaders could convince enough of their own to come on board. After several failed attempts to bargain with the remaining holdouts, Boehner on Friday morning offered an amendment in return for Republicans support that would allow for a vote on a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
It worked.
Even the most hardline Republicans left a closed-door meeting with the caucus Friday morning with the announcement that they had changed their minds and would support the Speaker's plan.
 The bill would raise the federal debt limit by about $900 billion in return for $917 billion in across-the-board reductions in projected government spending. The measure would force Congress to vote again on the debt limit in six months, setting the stage for yet another national debate over government spending and debt. Republicans needed 218 votes to pass.
Senate Democratic leaders vowed before the vote that the bill would collapse in the upper chamber.
"Boehner's bill dies tonight," House Majority Leader Harry Reid's spokesman Adam Jentleson announced on Twitter Thursday afternoon when it was thought the House would vote on the bill in just a matter of hours. "Forever."
Now that the Republican plan has survived the House, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to table Boehner's House bill and move toward his own version of a debt ceiling package.
If Reid's version can't pass either, Boehner's plan would still be a tough--if not impossible--sell to the Senate and the White House. All 53 Senate Democrats signed a letter this week vowing to vote against Boehner's plan.
"A short-term extension like the one in your bill would put America at risk, along with every family and business in it," the letter read. "We now have only five days left to act. The entire world is watching Congress. We need to do the right thing to solve this problem. We must work together to avoid a default the responsible way—not in a way that will do America more harm than good."
Earlier this week, President Obama stopped short of promising to veto Boehner's bill if it survives the Senate, but sent a message to Congress Tuesday promising that, "senior advisers would recommend that he veto this bill."
The White House ramped up its rhetorical offensive on Friday when President Obama said that Boehner's plan "has no chance of becoming law."
The Senate could, however, amend the House bill and send it back to the House, which would likely include a reduction in spending and provide enough to raise the debt ceiling for more than a year.
Reid's plan to raise the debt ceiling would cut billions more than Boehner's proposal, and free up enough money for the government to continue paying its debts until after the elections in November 2012. That, too, would require House approval.
Friday's House vote was a culmination of days of uncertainty over whether Boehner could secure support from his own caucus. Just hours before the scheduled Thursday vote, GOP House leaders still could not say with confidence that they had the votes--and indeed a vote scheduled to take place around 6 PM EST was postponed till later in the evening as House GOP leaders continued hunting up votes for Boehner's plan, after already spending much of Thursday meeting personally with several House Republicans who they thought could be swayed. With the final moments ticking by, at least 22 House Republicans confirmed they would not support the speaker and four said they were "leaning" against it. (Just 25 Republican "nay" votes would have sunk the bill.)
That was too close for comfort for Republican leaders, who said they needed a few more hours and postponed the vote yet again. Around 10:30 PM EST Thursday night, GOP lawmakers announced they were calling it quits for the night and would pick the bill back up in the morning.
The entire 11th-hour episode has proven to be a test for Boehner, who took severe hits from the conservative wing of his party for seeking a compromise with Democrats. Conservatives were most displeased that Boehner's proposal omitted a key spending-hawk provision calling for a constitutional amendment to require Congress to balance the federal budget each year--but the deal to launch a separate bill on the balanced budget amendment allayed most of Bohener's critics on the right. While Republican leaders were busy corralling every possible vote, major conservative grassroots organizations blasted messages to their member lists urging them to tell members of Congress to vote against the Republican plan.
The Republican Study Committee--the chamber's largest conservative caucus, with more than 175 members--was actively working to undermine the Republican plan. Committee Executive Director Paul Teller, a staffer, had reportedly sent letters to conservative groups telling them to keep the pressure on House members to vote against Boehner's proposal. When the aide's actions were outed at a closed-door meeting with Republicans, members shouted "fire him, fire him!" according to an account in Politico.
The chaos on Capitol Hill, could, however be just the prelude of drama to come with the approach of Aug. 2--the date at which Treasury officials say the United States would begin defaulting on debt obligations. With no plan in sight that both sides can agree on, it is likely that whatever solution emerges from Washington will not emerge until the final moments. |
