DeMint Threatens Filibuster on Debt Ceiling if No Vote on Balanced Budget Amendment

Throwing down the gauntlet, Republican Sen. Jim DeMint threatened Monday to block a vote in Congress on raising the U.S. debt ceiling unless he wins a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution.

The filibuster threat comes a day after Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner suggested Republican leaders had offered private assurances to the White House that they ultimately would vote to raise the $14.3 trillion ceiling, regardless of whether a deal is reached on long-term spending cuts.

Publicly, Republicans say they will demand spending cuts as a condition for supporting a hike in the debt ceiling. They stood by that claim following Geithner’s comments, and DeMint took their demands a step further.

“I will oppose any attempt to vote to raise the limit on our $14 trillion debt until Congress passes the balanced-budget amendment,” the South Carolina conservative said. He first made the remarks to McClatchy, which his office confirmed to Fox News.

A balanced-budget amendment would prohibit the U.S. government from running a deficit. Such a provision would take a two-thirds vote in Congress, in addition to ratification by the states.

Fox News

As much as I admire DeMint’s stand on this, this simply will not happen.  The debt ceiling has to be increased by July and while it is not impossible to get the amendment passed by the U.S. Congress by then, there is zero possibility to have two-thirds of the states ratify it by that time.  Granted, DeMint just said he wants to see the amendment passed by Congress, so the states may not be an issue, but I guarantee there will not be enough support among the Republican Party to uphold a filibuster in regards to raising the debt.  The GOP has already sent out signals that they are backing away from that fight.

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