Republicans Now Set for Battle on Debt Limit

With debate now over about the fiscal 2011 budget, attention is shifting to the issue of raising the debt limit. And Republican House leaders warn their colleagues won’t pass a bill unless it includes more spending cuts to accompany the debt ceiling increase, The Hill reports.

"My members won't vote to increase the debt limit unless we take serious steps in the right direction," Speaker John Boehner told Fox News. He knows that failing to raise the ceiling would have "serious consequences for the worldwide economy." But that doesn’t mean his Republican colleagues will simply “roll over" on the vote.

"There are not the votes in the House to raise the debt ceiling" without spending cuts, Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois, the House GOP's chief deputy whip, said on WLS Radio in Chicago.