Congress, You Have 3 Options Left

Ezra Klein: And it's time to pick one
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 23, 2011 10:37 AM CDT
Congress, You Have 3 Options Left
House Speaker John Boehner talks about the breakdown of debt ceiling talks on Friday.   (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)

As President Obama meets this morning with congressional leaders on the debt ceiling, one number matters most of all: Eleven. As in, the number of days until the government defaults, writes Ezra Klein in the Washington Post. With crunch time here, Klein sees three options left, and he says Congress better pick one in a hurry:

  • "A $4 trillion deal that includes some revenues"
  • "A $1 trillion-$2 trillion deal that’s all spending cuts but leaves much of the job until after the election"

  • "A deal in which Republicans don’t come to a negotiated agreement with President Obama but they grant him the authority—and let him take the blame—for raising the debt ceiling."
Click to read Klein's full column. Another alternative: One Democratic lawmaker wants a straight-up vote on raising the debt ceiling, the Hill reports, and Steve Benen at Washington Monthly thinks the GOP could make it work. Click for more. (More debt ceiling stories.)

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