Boehner: No Promise on Debt-Limit Vote

Speaker John Boehner has escalated the battle over raising the national debt ceiling, saying Monday that he might not hold a vote on the increase. “If the president doesn’t get serious about the need to address our fiscal nightmare, yeah, there’s a chance it could not happen,” the Ohio Republican said. The GOP, as well as some Democrats, have called for steep cuts to the budget to accompany an increase in the debt ceiling, while President Obama wants to keep budget cuts and the debt-ceiling vote separate (an increase in the ceiling doesn’t borrow more money, but allows the U.S. to continue paying prior obligations). Boehner has previously said that raising the ceiling was important to avoid economic catastrophe.