GOP: OK, We Do Have to Raise the Debt Ceiling

Tim Geithner sent a letter to Congress yesterday warning of the dire consequences the country will face if Republicans don’t raise the debt ceiling before the US hits it—and newly minted Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan conceded that he was right. “Will the debt ceiling have to be raised? Yes,” Ryan told Reuters. But he called for spending cuts in 2012.

“The American people will not stand for such an increase unless it is accompanied by meaningful action … to cut spending,” agreed John Boehner. The US could default as early as March 31 if the debt ceiling isn’t raised, Tim Geithner estimated, which “would have catastrophic economic consequences that would last for decades.” But Politico notes one crowning irony in the administration’s push on the issue: Some senator named Barack Obama voted against raising the debt ceiling in 2006, calling an increase “a sign of leadership failure.” (More Paul Ryan stories.)