Budget

Geithner: We Must Raise Debt Ceiling

Republicans seem willing.

Republicans seem ready to compromise and raise the debt limit, and thank goodness for that, if Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s warnings are to be believed. "Even a short-term or limited default would have catastrophic economic consequences that would last for decades," Geithner wrote to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and would threaten to put the country in default. "Will the debt ceiling... have to be raised? Yes," said House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, who has led Republican efforts to cut deficit spending. In recent years, the House has been able to automatically approve debt-limit increases, but the Republicans’ new House rules have put a stop to that. Still, Republicans say they won’t increase the limit without cuts—$60 billion of which Ryan plans to unveil in the coming weeks.