I was wrong.
Remember when I said that the House was going to push off the debt ceiling for three months? Turns out they didn’t mean it. They meant four months.
The House voted today to delay a decision on the debt ceiling for four more months, through May 18. The measure passed by a vote of 285 aye to 144 no. You can see the entire roll call here.
The vote basically pushes off a potential default on our debt and allows us to borrow. Yet again. The bill also includes the provisions, as before, that would cut off Congressional pay if Congress doesn’t pass a new budget by April 15. Speaker John A. Boehner (R-OH) teamed up with former vice presidential candidate and now Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to tout the bill as a new twist on fiscal conservatism. Boehner said, about the measure, “It’s time for Congress to get serious about this.”
Or they could do it four months from now. Po-tay-to. Po-tah-to.
A Senate vote is expected next week. The White House has indicated that President Obama will not oppose the measure.