LI House members want debt limit raised

WASHINGTON -- Long Island's Democrats and Republican in Congress agree on the key issue in the latest federal budget battle: They want to see the debt limit raised by Tuesday's deadline.

And they blamed the House GOP's tea party-inspired bloc for the impasse on passing legislation to raise the debt ceiling by going too far in their zeal to cut spending and shrink the size of federal government.

"It has to get done," Rep. Pete King (R-Seaford) said of a debt-limit deal.

A failure to raise the debt limit would be "a disaster," said Sen. Charles Schumer, a Senate Democratic leader.

It would force "awful choices" on the government as it decided whom to pay, and lead to increases on interest rates on people's mortgages, credit cards and other loans, he said.

Yet as the clock ticked down Saturday toward the deadline, both parties took time to stage votes to reject each other's debt plans.

"I couldn't be more frustrated," said Rep. Steve Israel (D-Dix Hills) after the House rejected the Democratic plan. "The more we compromise, the more extreme the Republicans get."

The House vote was necessary, King said, adding: "That's when the real negotiations begin. Hopefully, this will be resolved in the next 48 hours."

The GOP and Democratic proposals that were rejected Friday and Saturday overlap: both have $900-plus billion in spending cuts over 10 years and both create a special 12-member bipartisan congressional committee to find $1.8 trillion more to cut.

Schumer, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Democratic Reps. Israel, Gary Ackerman of Roslyn Heights, Tim Bishop of Southampton and Carolyn McCarthy of Mineola agree with King and the GOP the deficit must be reduced.

Democrats also urge raising revenue with higher taxes on the wealthy or through tax reform. King said he's for tax reform to bring in more money.

Then there are the differences.

To provide economic stability, the Democrats insisted any deal must raise the debt limit by $2.7 trillion so it lasts through 2012. King voted to require another debt-ceiling showdown in six months.

Amid the partisan struggle, Democrats and King said the tea party bloc, which has become powerful in the GOP, has overreached.

"It is difficult to predict where you are going to end up when you are negotiating with people who have a theocracy that all government is bad," said Israel, who leads the Democrats' House 2012 campaign.

"Democrats have agreed to over $1 trillion of spending cuts, and Republicans said it's not enough," he said.

"There are people in the Republican Party who I believe pushed too far," said King. "We could have claimed victory and had victory."

King also blamed President Barack Obama, calling him an "absentee leader" for failing to put out his own plan.

The struggle over the debt ceiling is just one in a series of congressional showdowns that have been forced by the tea party bloc trying to cut spending and shrink the government.

In mid-April, that GOP bloc forced Democrats to accept $38 billion in cuts to avoid shutting down the government, then voted against the 2011 spending bill for not cutting enough.

The bloc is expected to force another battle that goes up to the last minute when Congress takes up the budget for the next fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, Long Island's lawmakers said.

"Everyone recognizes we have to reduce our spending. I voted for the [2011 spending bill]," said Bishop. "I am prepared to vote for other bills that reduce our spending in a fair and reasonable way."

He said that means ensuring cuts don't "place all the burden for fixing our financial problems on the least fortunate among us."