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Congressmen Speak on Debt Ceiling

Photo by dirkoneill http://www.flickr.com/photos/dirkoneill/3288655313/

Financial forecasters have long been predicting that as the debt ceiling debate draws on, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ will be the first to crack. Both the Dow Jones and the NASDAQ were down today.

The two parties in Washington are facing off with competing proposals, one from Speaker of the House, John A. Boehner and another from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Both plans would raise the debt ceiling but differ on how to reduce the nation's spending. Texas' Congressional delegation is weighing in on the impasse.

“I’m a glass half full kind of guy. I’m optimistic. I met with the speaker on this yesterday and we had a conference today and I really feel like we are going to have the votes to pass it in the House and once it’s in the Senate, well this is the best option we have and we have to do something,” Congressman Michael McCaul told KUT.

“I’veintroduced legislation again this week to try to close some of the international corporate tax loopholes and gimmicks that allow some major multi-nations to pay a lower rate of tax than the people who sweep their offices every night and I think that ought to be part of any budget agreement. The point that I would stand very firm on is not yielding to Republican demands,” Congressman Lloyd Doggett told KUT.

Texas will be affected under either plan. The state gets a large amount of funding from the federal government to pay for Medicare and Medicaid. The debt ceiling has been raised 78 times since 1960.

Jessie Wang is a news intern at KUT. She is studying International Relations, Chinese and Community Health at Tufts University in Medford, Mass.