http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/us/politics/congress-budget-debate.html
WASHINGTON — On the brink of a historic default, House Republicans on Tuesday abruptly postponed a vote on their latest proposal to reopen the government and raise the debt limit, as a major credit agency warned that the United states was on the verge of a costly ratings downgrade.
Hard-line conservatives and more pragmatic Republicans were nearing open revolt Tuesday evening, after House Republican leadership rushed out a new bill in the afternoon, forcing a postponement of any vote on the measure. With the latest delay, chances increased that a resolution would not be reached before the Treasury exhausted its borrowing authority on Thursday.
After failing in repeated efforts to bring their troops behind any bill that would end the budget dispute, the House Republican leadership offered a bill Tuesday afternoon that would reopen the government through Dec. 15, extend the government’s borrowing authority until Feb. 7 and eliminate government contributions to lawmakers, White House officials and their staffs for their purchases of health insurance on the new insurance exchanges.
Under the new plan, the Treasury Department would be forbidden to use “extraordinary measures” — juggling government accounts — to extend its borrowing capabilities.
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