Ryan plans to use debt ceiling vote to force spending caps

Incoming House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) made clear Thursday he intends to use a vote next spring on raising the debt ceiling to exact spending concessions from the Obama administration and Democrats.

Republicans voted against raising the debt ceiling repeatedly in the Democratic-run House, and some incoming Republican members have said the debt ceiling should not be raised.

Ryan said the ceiling is sure to be reached next year, however, and he argued Republicans can use a vote on the debt limit to win spending caps from the administration. He agreed that failing to raise the ceiling risks default and would send an alarming signal that the U.S. might not be able to pay back its debts that could hurt the economy.

Ryan said he willing to compromise to get a deficit-reduction deal through Congress.

“No one party is going to fix this debt problem, that’s not going to happen,” he said. “This fix to our debt, whenever it happens, will have to be bipartisan.”

To get to such a compromise, Ryan urged greater civility and fewer personal attacks. He said he is also reaching out to the administration to establish contacts, which he said were sorely lacking during the expiring session of Congress.

He said the Obama administration made a choice early in its administration that it did not need to work with Republicans.

“They didn’t need us so they didn’t talk to us,” he said of the administration.

Ryan said he developed a relationship with former Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag, former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and outgoing National Economic Council Director Larry Summers, but contacts are now more limited.

Ryan is trying to get a dinner with OMB Director Jack Lew, one of two cabinet members negotiation with members of Congress over extending the Bush-era tax cuts, he said.

Although Ryan announced he will be voting against the president’s deficit commission plan, chiefly over its healthcare provisions, he said its tax reform proposal to broaden the tax base by eliminating tax credits while lowering rates moves the debate in the “right direction.”

A House aide said Ryan supports eliminating tax breaks if the extra revenue is used to bring down rates and stimulate growth. He said Ryan opposes eliminating them if it is to be used to increase spending.

For next year’s budget resolution, Ryan told Thursday reporters that he is not sure yet whether the committee will take up his “roadmap” plan as the basis for the resolution.

He said he wants the lame-duck Congress to avoid passing an omnibus spending package and instead focus on a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government running until next year. Republicans would prefer a CR of a few months, but Ryan acknowledged that the best they can hope for is probably a CR funding the government until Sept. 30.