Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) compared the looming default to the American Revolution on Saturday after a meeting with House Republicans.
The Hill reports Griffith suggested that even if it resulted in a severely damaging default, the House should reject an unfavorable agreement from the Senate.
“We have to make a decision that’s right long-term for the United States, and what may be distasteful, unpleasant and not appropriate in the short run may be something that has to be done,” Griffith said, according to The Hill. “I will remind you that this group of renegades that decided that they wanted to break from the crown in 1776 did great damage to the economy of the colonies. They created the greatest nation and the best form of government, but they did damage to the economy in the short run.”
After a closed-door meeting Saturday, House Republicans said the White House rejected their offer to temporarily increase the debt ceiling and open the government.
HuffPost’s Sabrina Siddiqui reports:
Members leaving a closed-door meeting said House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told them talks with President Barack Obama on how to end the government shutdown and avert the looming Oct. 17 deadline to raise the nation’s borrowing cap, had reached a dead end. There was also concern that the White House might strike a deal with Senate Republicans, who presented their own plan to Obama on Friday.
Many lawmakers, including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), said it was now up to their colleagues in the Senate to hold firm so that Republicans in both chambers would appear united.
“I’m disappointed that the president has rejected the offer that we put on the table,” Cantor told reporters after the meeting. “I know that he’s trying to see which Republican senator he can pick off in the Senate. I hope that the Senate Republicans stand strong so we can speak with one voice.”
House Republicans had put forward a proposal to extend the debt limit for six weeks and work quickly to reopen the government, if the president agreed to a broader framework for deficit reduction. They presented the plan to Obama in a meeting at the White House Thursday evening. Both sides said afterward that discussions would continue, though neither the White House nor GOP leadership said they were close to a deal.
Members suggested both sides wanted to keep the appearance of potential for progress, even though Obama rejected their plan in a phone call with Boehner on Friday.
Read more of Saturday’s GOP talks here.
Also on HuffPost:
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