A bill to cut the US deficit was to face a nail-bitingly close vote in Congress yesterday as the top Republican lawmaker sought to quell an internal revolt and push his plan to avoid a ruinous default.
Approval of a plan by House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner would break the inertia in Washington over a US debt crisis that has spooked markets and raised the prospect that the government of the world’s largest economy will run out of money to pay its bills in less than a week.
US President Barack Obama has threatened to veto the bill and a majority of the Democratic-controlled Senate has vowed to vote against it, but a successful vote in the House would give the bill legitimacy and make it a crucial element of the legislative chess game that is likely to play out until Tuesday’s deadline.
A defeat of the bill could deepen the crisis, swinging the momentum toward a rival Democratic plan in the Senate, but leaving no clear way to overcome entrenched opposition from fiscally conservative “Tea Party” Republicans in the House.
With brinksmanship over the ideologically charged dispute seeming likely to go on through the weekend, investors and ordinary Americans are increasingly nervous that a previously unthinkable US default could spark a new financial crisis.
The US Treasury says it will run out of spending money on Tuesday unless Congress agrees to raise the US$14.3 trillion debt ceiling. Even if an 11th-hour compromise emerges, the US could lose its top-notch credit status if ratings agencies are not convinced it has done enough to address its bulging debt burden.
Several House Democrats planned to hold a news conference yesterday to urge Obama to take that option if necessary.
“The only option here is for Congress to do its job,” senior White House adviser David Plouffe said on the PBS show NewsHour. “We’ve run out of excuses and we’re running out of time.”
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2