House

Two House Republicans accused President Obama of being arrogant by demanding that Americans "eat their peas" and accept higher taxes in order to solve the fiscal crisis.

"The president has the nerve to tell the American people that they have to eat their peas," Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) said on the House floor.

"This from a president who had the federal government on a 'Supersize me' diet since the day he has been sworn in," Kingston added. "Marie Antoinette would be proud of such arrogance."

House debate on the House Republican "cut, cap and balance" bill took on the tone of a grade-school fight early Tuesday afternoon, as it frequently devolved into trading jabs over how Democrats might rename the bill, and what name Republicans might apply to the Obama administration's plan for deficit reduction.

Prior to the debate, Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) said the GOP plan should be called the "gut, gap and handcuff" plan. He said it would gut key social programs, expand the gap between the rich and the poor and prevent the government from addressing crises.

The second-ranking House Democrat on Tuesday threw his weight behind opposing entitlement benefit cuts in a debt-ceiling deal.

Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) on Tuesday afternoon implied that the U.S. would have lost World War II had the Republican "cut, cap and balance" bill had been in effect during the war.

"You would be speaking German, Japanese or Russian if this balanced-budget amendment was in effect during World War II and during the Cold War," Braley said. He said U.S. debt reached 120 percent of U.S. gross domestic product in order to finance the war, and argued that this would have been more difficult under the House bill.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said a presentation of the Gang of Six's plan to cut the deficit by $3.7 trillion Tuesday morning left many senators with a positive feeling.  

"Something happened this morning which was perhaps historic," said Durbin from the Senate floor. "We took our plan, which was short of completion, and we invited every member of the United States Senate, Democrats and Republicans, to come and listen to a description of the plan."

"There were no fist-fights," said Durbin in describing the meeting. "There was no swearing. Instead Democrats and Republicans sat in the room … and listened to the outline of this Group of Six proposal and came out with a positive feeling."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on Tuesday the balanced-budget amendment being considered in the House is "radical."

"Today the House will consider legislation that would force the nation to default on our financial obligations for the first time in history unless Congress adopts a radical, new constitutional amendment," Reid said from the Senate floor. 

Several House Democrats argued on the floor Tuesday morning that the rise of voter-identification laws across many states is a coordinated attempt by Republicans to suppress minority and elderly votes.

"These new policies are a clear attempt to prevent certain pre-determined segments of the population from exercising their right to vote," said Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio). "To be frank, Mr. Speaker, these efforts have an all-too familiar stench of the Jim Crow era."

“When a country is indebted to the degree that we’re indebted, the country always defaults,” Rep. Paul said.

House Republicans on Tuesday introduced new legislation that would guarantee Social Security payments in the event that the federal government bumps up against the debt ceiling.

Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) and six other Republicans introduced the Social Security Check Guarantee Act, H.R. 2581. The bill says simply that nothing in U.S. law shall preclude the timely payment of Social Security benefits from the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund or the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund.

The House meets at 10 a.m. for speeches, then at noon to consider the Republican "cut, cap and balance" bill that cuts spending in 2012, caps the size of the federal government over the next decade and prohibits more federal borrowing until a balanced-budget amendment is sent to the states.

Members will debate the rule for the bill for one hour. After approving the rule, members are scheduled for four more hours of debate before voting on the bill, H.R. 2560.