Cantor And Camp: No Short-Term Debt Limit Hike

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Two top House Republicans rejected the idea of pursuing a series of piecemeal deficit-cutting agreements in exchange for gradual increases in the government's borrowing limit, putting more pressure on negotiators to start cutting deals on a broader package within days.

Vice President Joseph Biden is leading a bipartisan group of lawmakers seeking to craft a plan for reducing the federal budget deficit, hoping it will ease the way for an increase in the government's $14.29 trillion debt ceiling.

Most analysts say the borrowing cap would have to be raised by more than $2 trillion to carry the government through the 2012 election.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said Sunday that if lawmakers did not soon reach a broad budget agreement, they might have to agree to a smaller increase in the debt ceiling and revisit the issue again in a few months.

But House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) told reporters Tuesday he didn't "see how multiple votes on a debt-ceiling increase can help us get to where we want to go," a sentiment echoed by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman David Camp (R., Mich.).