Democrat Shifts Debt Ceiling Stance
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A House Democrat who voted against increasing the borrowing limit just two months ago is now changing his tune, and saying he'd consider a short-term deal to raise the nation's debt ceiling.
Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar says while he would "prefer not" to have a short-term extension, he would consider one to prevent a default.
"When you have a default, the ironic thing is the interest rates are going to go up and we are going to be paying more of a deficit," said Cuellar during a Saturday interview with Fox News. "If you go to bank and your credit rate is not good, bankers are going to charge you more interest. You're going to be paying more later on. That's exactly what is going to happen to the federal government."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Back in May, Cuellar was one of 82 Democrats to vote "no" on the proposal to increase the statutory debt limit to $16.7 trillion. The motion failed by a vote of 318 to 97.
When asked if he had taken heat from fellow Democrats for his debt ceiling vote, Cuellar responded, "No, I think everybody understands that we are in a very difficult situation."
Cuellar says he saw the contention coming. "You know back when we were facing the CR [Continuing Resolution] some months ago, people said ‘this is a tough vote' and I said, ‘wait till we get to the debt limit.'"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Texas Democrat says House Speaker John Boehner should remember the compromise that took place during the fight over the Continuing Resolution.
"Look, Boehner does not have 218 votes. He doesn't. The only way we can do it is like how he did it on the CR. He's got to have some Republicans, he's got to have some Democrats."