Can Republicans and Democrats Tackle the “Debt Monster?”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}With a government shutdown looming two Fridays from now-- The big question is, can Congress find a compromise while it's facing a week that will be dominated by conversation about Libya? Two freshmen Congressmen are still holding out hope that both Republicans and Democrats will be able to work together and find a compromise.
"We're going to have to come to some decisions on how we deal with the debt right away. But what I'm saying is, let's not make these small deep cuts to hurt the job training, stop the kids from going to college [and] prevent people from getting the healthcare they need. We've got to look at the overall big picture," said Congressman Hansen Clarke, D-Mich. during an interview on Fox News.
"Think about February, we literally borrowed $8-billion a day, and yet we have people fussing at us over a $2-billion a week cut. We need America to put new batteries in their calculator and send those calculators to the Senate so we get some serious partners to work with us on this debt monster that's coming at us," added Congressman David Schweikert, R-Ariz.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The current continuing resolution will expire on April 8, leaving Congress just two weeks to come up with a plan to fund the government.
"Much of our great frustration in the House is trying to figure out who is in charge of the U.S. Senate," said Congressman Schweikert. "Let's think about this. We have done the continuing resolution until the end of
the year. We've done a two-week, we've done a three-week. And we don't seem to have a partner to work on this in the Senate," he added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Both say they are willing to reach across the aisle to come up with a compromise.
"Keeping an open mind and staying grounded that our number one goal is not the politics, but it's serving the public. Yes, we can work together. We have to for the sake of America," said Rep. Clarke.
Congressmen Schweikert and Clarke were part of another panel on Fox News back in January to discuss bipartisanship. For more on what they had to say, check out this blog.