CBO: Boehner, Reid Debt Plans Fall Short of Promised Savings

Reuters reported that Reid said no Senate Democrat would vote for the Boehner plan in the event it passed the House. Boehner, however, was warning his Republican colleagues in the House to “get your ass in line” and support his bill even as it was being rewritten.

In a New York Times report, both Republicans and Democrats were voicing dissatisfaction and frustration. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., was opposed to the Boehner plan because it did not save enough quickly enough, saying, “A lot of us recognize the most meaningful part of an agreement is what you’re willing to do immediately.”

Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., said of the same plan, “What we’re facing here is a Republican caucus that is basically showing its political bravery by giving up Medicare benefits for elderly people, by increasing the cost of student loans for working families, by cutting money for medical research.”

Despite the stalemate, S&P said it does not believe the U.S. will default. Deven Sharma, the agency’s president, told a House of Representatives Financial Services committee hearing held to examine oversight of the credit rating agencies, “Our analysts don’t believe they would.”