Eric Cantor claims Republicans will not vote to raise the debt ceiling without concessions from Barack Obama

  Everyone seems to agree that if the debt ceiling is not increased (even if in Barack Obama’s own words while he was a senator this is a sign of poor leadership) that it will have disastrous results; I am not going to pretend that I am an expert on this subject so I will just assume that this is true for the sake of this post. What I do know is this; Barack Obama and the Democrats cannot allow the United States to default on her obligations on their watch, so this could provide the Republicans with the opportunity they need to ask for a little bit in return for providing Barack Obama with the increase he needs due to his poor leadership. (His words, not mine.)

  And–at least on the surface–it appears as if Eric Cantor is ready to do just that, claiming that the Republicans are ready to let America default on her debts if their demands are not met.

Republicans are floating a wide range of major structural reforms that could be attached to the debt limit vote, including statutory spending caps, a balanced budget amendment and a two-thirds vote requirement for tax increases and debt limit increases.

     None of these positions require the draconian cuts that the Democrats always like to claim ANY spending cuts are, and all of these seem like perfectly legitimate structural changes that would benefit the country moving forward.

 We have seen the Republicans take a hard line stance on issues such as this with Barack Obama and the Democrats in the recent past only to be disappointed, so it will be interesting to see which side blinks first on the issue of the debt ceiling.

  The Republicans are going to use this opportunity to push for a change in the system, while the Democrats are sure to claim that the Republicans are holding the debt ceiling hostage for political reasons. And that may be true but we are reaching critical mass here and something needs to be done. It is time for someone to stand up and take a stand because if America continues down this path it will only be a matter of time before America implodes under the burden of the incredible debt that is building beneath her.

  Barack Obama himself–as I alluded to above–once held the debt ceiling hostage for political reasons even though now that he is president he is saying that this is the wrong thing to do. It is interesting to note his sudden change of position now that he is the one that is asking for the debt ceiling to be raised.

  In the end the debt ceiling is going to be raised, there is no doubt in my mind about that, so if we are to believe the president’s rhetoric about sacrifice being all encompassing we can expect that the Democrats will also be asked to sacrifice a little bit in order to get the debt ceiling raised. After all fair is fair, right?

  While letting America default on her obligations may have dire consequences, so will continuing down the path we are currently on. We simply cannot afford to spend money that we do not have and so it appears to me that these two issues combined can be used as a means to affect the changes in the system that are much needed. We can only hope that Eric Cantor and the Republicans are actually serious about this and will not bend under the pressure that is sure to come.