Jon Kyl: Debt Ceiling Hike Should Be Paired With $2.5 Trillion In Cuts

WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans are aiming to cut at least $2.5 trillion over the next decade in a deal to raise the federal debt limit, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said on Tuesday.

Kyl, who is representing Senate Republicans in bipartisan debt talks, told reporters that his party is seeking "$2.5 trillion -- at a minimum -- in savings" over the next 10 years in exchange for raising the debt ceiling by about $2.4 trillion. Kyl's remarks echo House Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) calls for cuts equal to the amount the debt ceiling is raised.

Although those participating in the talks have said they have been productive so far, Kyl cautioned that negotiators could fall short of coming to $2.5 trillion in cuts before Aug. 2 -- the date the government will begin to default on its loans. The government reached its debt limit -- currently set at $14.29 trillion -- on May 16, but Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said the agency will not begin to default on its loans until about Aug. 2.

In that event, Congress might need to pass small, short-term increases on the debt limit while the details of a larger deal are ironed out, Kyl said.

"If we don't get to that $2.5 trillion, I don't think there would be much of an appetite on our side to raise the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion," he said.

The bipartisan debt ceiling group is aiming to finish its work "sometime in July," Kyl said, throwing water on a call by Boehner to raise the debt ceiling by the Fourth of July.

He declined to go into specifics on the cuts settled so far, which he previously said stand at about $150 billion. But Kyl said the group will have to make cuts to Medicare that go beyond just elimination of waste, fraud and abuse.

"People should not be under the impression that waste, fraud and abuse is going to be the amount of savings we need to get to," he said. "There's some money to be had there, but it's up there with foreign aid. It's less than one percent."

In addition to the risk of the government defaulting on its loans, Kyl said the markets could respond badly if a deal is not reached.

"If we don't identify significant changes, if we don't have a way to ensure that the proceedings are played out, if we don't find a way to save Medicare, for example, then I think the markets could interpret the result as a failure," he said. "The pressure is on us."

Comments

[DANIELISTICALL]

08:14 AM on 06/10/2011

The RSC is a very large bloc of conservative Republican House members.
They introduced a 10-year plan for America that makes the already
far-reaching House budget look fairly moderate. It was supposed to be a symbolic vote -- one that allowed conservative members to go on the
record in support of slashing $9 trillion in spending knowing full well it would never be adopted as the official position of the House and the Republican Party. Hoyer figured them out. That led to the chaos on the House floor late Friday morning. With almost all Democrats voting present, Republicans realized they were about to accidentally pass a plan that was too politically radioactive
even to them. So they pressed several of their own members -- including Reps. David Dreier (R-CA), Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), Buck McKeon (R-CA), and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) -- to switch their votes from yes to no. Indeed, when they realized what the Dems were up to, Republicans managed to flip just as many votes as they'd need to kill the RSC plan, even if every Democrat voted "present." Only 15 Democrats declined to switch their votes from "no" to "present." The plan failed by 16 votes.

[DANIELISTICALL]

08:10 AM on 06/10/2011

Obama wants smarter healthier and more prosperous Americans ,,,, and what do the republicans want to cut???? SCHOOLS,,,HEALTH CARE,,, AND UNIONS FOR THE WORKING AMERICANS,,,,,,, not a single job creation bill was brought up by the republicans,,,,, they were more interested in controlling every women’s uterus in the country ,than putting Americans back to work THIS IS THE LASER FOCUS ON THE ECONOMY THAT THE REPUBLICANS PROMISED IF ELECTED

[Albert James II]

11:32 AM on 06/09/2011

KYL: since Bush gave the Biggest tax cut in history coupled with the worst Jobs creation record in history, proving cutting tax does not make jobs, lets get those cuts back, and since we are really not fighting World War two over again, lets cut the Military by half. The after doing that let's talk about the end of grandma.

[robertste998]

10:33 AM on 06/09/2011

Bush raised the debt ceiling 10 times between 2000-2008. Suddenly the GOP is so concerned? Politics! Blackmail!

[99er2049er]

08:49 AM on 06/09/2011

To the republicans, cutting programs that help the unemployed, poor, middle class, women, and seniors survive, not a problem, in fact, it's their mission.

But....try to take a dime from a millionaire or billionaire, who doesn't even need the extra tax cuts, then all hell breaks loose with the republicans.

Seriously, I have never seen a more cold-hearted group of people in my life!

[out west]

12:58 AM on 06/09/2011

I think this is the way republicans are telling us that from now the only ones allowed to have rights will need to pay for them. Wink, wink. Democrats seem to be at a loss as how to deal with terrorists like today's extremist republicans. I would tend to agree with others here that a national strike is in order.
It's amazing how far republicans have sunk in order to get their way.

[goldgoose]

11:35 PM on 06/08/2011

It would appear to me to be proper for the entire working Middle Class Americans to refuse to pay their Income Tax and go on a general strike that will shut down commerce; that is the only way that the American working Middle Class is going to get in on the negotiation for raising the national debt limit.
The Republican Party assumed after the 2010 Midterm elections that the working Middle Class are powerless and no threat to the John Birch Republican ideology.
Power is the only thing Republicans understand; they have no concept of patriotism or compassion. They have no sense of concern for the people. They believe that if the people are hungry, "Let them eat cake".
America needs a "Working Middle Class Recognition Day" when no one goes to work and we all march on the Federal Government. The only alternative is for the working Middle Class to bend over forward, put your head between your legs, and kiss you A$$ goodbye.

[Veganie]

11:16 PM on 06/08/2011

Some that will be voting against republicans', unionized workers, Doctors, unemployed, including veterans and 99ers, environmentalists, feminists, blacks, Hispanics, Jews, Muslims, progressives, scientists, Democrats, and any other group that disagrees with them.

[gypsysailor]

10:49 PM on 06/08/2011

We can save 2.5 trillion just by eliminating all the republicans from our country. I suggest we deport them all back to the countries their people came from.

[goldgoose]

10:46 PM on 06/08/2011

Personally, in this time of national economic crisis, I do not believe that raising the national debt limit should be a partisan issue, with either party making demands; there is a patriotic responsibility for all members of Congress to agree to raise the debt limit immediately in these desperate times for working Middle Class Americans that constitute a vast majority of he people.

Government spending, is always a serious issue and a partisan one. However, when you are the head of a family and you have no bread on the table, it is no time for the family to argue over whether or not to increase their debt problem by using their credit card to buy bread.

It ill behooves politicians to make demands for their vote to increase the National Debt when the common citizen is suffering grave financial distress and he will suffer the most if the credit of the nation fails. Politicians are fools for holding their constituents hostage.

[MyOwnPerson172]

09:49 PM on 06/08/2011

If these Republican politicians aren't put on the terrorist watch list, the list is a sham. They are worse than al-Qaeda in the damage they are doing/have done to the U.S.

[Kalikat]

09:37 PM on 06/08/2011

Instead of cuts cuts cuts cuts cuts leading to the economy falling further and unemployment rising why in Hades name aren't these pieces of crap trying to create jobs.

It seems that they are on a full speed ahead campaign to ruin the economy, bankrupt this country and bring it to its knees. What are the people who voted for these terrorist, and that is exactly what they are domestic terrorists, thinking now. Are they kicking themselves in the butt for voting for them. For believing the lies they were telling when they said they were going to preserve medicare and create jobs. Why are the people who voted for them not storming their offices and yelling at the top of their voices YOU LIE REPUBLICANS, YOU LIE YOU LIE YOU LIE.

It is such a shame that we don't have the "vote of convidence" that some of the other countries have , where, when they behave in the manner the republicans have done since they got into office we could vote the crumb bums out and permanently.

[billhodges]

09:12 PM on 06/08/2011

Sounds like a reasonable amount to cut. Let's add closing the Departments of Agriculture, Education, HUD, and the EPA.

[goldgoose]

11:19 PM on 06/08/2011

I would prefer to close down Congress:-)

[itschuck2c]

09:03 PM on 06/08/2011

The US has unfunded obligations they have promised that equals the entire GDP of the world.

[DCJames3]

09:50 PM on 06/08/2011

So, maybe that's too much huh?

[Arcelio Martinez]

09:02 PM on 06/08/2011

John Kyl is the empty suit from my state who polished Dubya's shoes as he raped and murdered the constitution ~~ not to mention the conversion of the Clinton Surplus to the Bush Nightmare that Obama inherited ~~ and NOW he tries to sound responsible