America to 'reconsider itself' in coming debt-ceiling fight, says Rockefeller

The coming fight over raising the debt ceiling marks the “beginning of eight to 10 years of America reconsidering itself," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.).

Democrats, some Republicans and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner fear that if Congress does not raise the $14.3 trillion limit, the U.S. could default on its financial obligations to debtors, including China, which could prompt a global crisis.

Rockefeller told the Charleston [W.Va.] Daily Mail's editorial board on Tuesday that the decision this week by Standard & Poor's to lower the outlook on the U.S. debt from "stable" to "negative" was "scary," and said he would vote to raise the debt ceiling.

"I'm going to vote for raising the national debt ceiling," said Rockefeller. "To not do so would be completely irresponsible."

Rockefeller said balancing the budget will require many sacrifices, including raising taxes — a move that is universally opposed by Republicans.

"If we're going to balance the budget, we're going to have to do some things we don't want to do," said Rockefeller.

Keeping tax breaks "is such a bedrock belief on the Republican side," added Rockefeller. "We really shouldn't be arguing about this because it's a waste of time. They are not going to change."