Rove: Unified GOP Can Win Debt Limit Battle

It’s clear that Democrats are looking to raise the debt limit in a “clean” fashion, but the GOP has begun to lay out specifics about what they want in return for increasing the debt limit, spending cuts. 

Former Bush Adviser and deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove offered his analysis in a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, saying that Democrats may have the political upper-hand should the GOP sit on moving a budget through the House. 

“If congressional Republicans wait until June to offer their proposal, they’ll have fallen into the Democratic trap,” Rove said. “The GOP needs to push back now—thoughtfully and aggressively. Yet in conversations with Senate and House Republicans, I was amazed to find they weren’t talking to each other.”

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) called on the president in a statement Wednesday, saying Obama “must agree to work with us in earnest” to swiftly reach an agreement to raise the debt limit and avert what Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said would be a “catastrophe” for the nation’s fragile economy. 

“If the President and our Democratic colleagues refuse to accept serious reforms that immediately reduce federal spending and end the culture of debt in Washington, we will not grant their request for a debt limit increase,” Cantor said. 

Rove said that the current battle to raise the debt limit is nothing more than political posturing for Democrats seeking a second term for the president. The former Bush adviser added that, should Republicans manage to to settle on a “fiscally responsible” package soon, Democrats would be put on the defensive, which would likely increase tensions inside White House. 

“A vote to raise the debt ceiling is an acknowledgment of past actions—in this case Mr. Obama’s massive spending since coming to office,” Rove said. “A unified GOP can gain leverage in negotiations with Mr. Obama and put America’s finances on the right path.”