As advertised, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) are pushing dueling plans to raise the debt limit on or before August 2, to avoid a catastrophic default. The plans are similar in key ways, but differ on perhaps the last sticking point in the debt limit debate: Whether the debt limit should be raised all the way into 2013, or whether Congress should replay this debt limit fight again early next year, to force Democrats and Republicans to pass entitlement and tax reforms.Reid’s plan, drawn from cuts identified in bipartisan negotiations with the White House, includes $1.2 trillion in discretionary spending reductions — from both defense and non-defense programs — over 10 years. It would save $100 billion in non-entitlement mandatory spending — from fraud reduction, reforms to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, from agricultural subsidies, and from higher-ed programs.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=109146