Congressman Scott Rigell, R-Virginia Beach, said today he will vote in favor of House Speaker John Boehner's plan to raise the debt ceiling.
"This afternoon I'll be voting for the 'Budget Control Act of 2011,"Rigell said in a video posted on his Facebook page. "Though it's an imperfect bill, I know it's the right path and the right decision."
Rigell was a proponent of the Tea Party-backed "Cut, Cap and Balance Act" that passed the House last week but was killed in the Senate. That bill would have required a cap on federal spending, serious spending cuts and a balanced budget amendment that would have been sent to the states for ratification.
While he supported "cut, cap and balance," which was seen as the Republican hard line position, Rigell left his options open on another deal because he believes that default on the nation's debt is "not an option."
On Tuesday Rigell spokesperson Kim Mosser told the Daily Press that the Congressman was "studying the Boehner bill really closely and is hopeful that he can come to a decision that it does, in fact, move us in the direction of a better fiscal stability."
In the video, Rigell lays out why he believes the Boehner plan moves in that direction.
Rigell's announcement comes the day after Boehner, R-Ohio, told wavering House GOP members in a closed-door Republican conference meeting to "get your ass in line" behind his proposal.
Mosser said that Boehner's statement did not play a role in Rigell's decision, and that the Speaker made the comment "more in a ‘let’s go team’ manner."
Rigell clarified his position in regard to Boehner's remark in an interview yesterday with Dow Jones Newswires:
" 'I've had no problem with voting against leadership,' Rigell said in an interview. 'I don't lose sleep over that, but as I look at where we are and the alternatives before us I think it's critical that we have given the president not one but two options,' he said, referring to both the cut cap and balance measure and the debt-ceiling measure being rewritten by Boehner.
Rigell said he thinks sentiment among Republicans is 'shifting over into supporting the bill.' He said that the argument put forward by leadership to 'be a team player is not persuasive to me,' but that 'it was the logic flow of what is the effect of this going to be on interest rates -- that was a principal concern because it would affect the cost of funds of every American.' He said that while rates still may rise even with the passage of a bill, 'it was certain to happen absent this bill.' "
Boehner's two-tier plan would raise the debt ceiling by $1 trillion dollars for six months and would include $1.2 trillion in spending cuts, followed by a second increase tied to an overhaul of the tax code and cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.
The House is expected to vote on the Speaker's proposal this evening. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said the Senate would immediately vote on and defeat Boehner's plan if it passes the House.
Follow Daily Press Political Reporter Todd Allen Wilson on twitter at twitter.com/tawilsondp.
Comments