Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who will soon be the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, on Friday panned a proposal by the White House that would allow President Obama to raise the debt ceiling without congressional approval.
Cornyn was referring to a plan Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner presented to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday that was meant to avoid the "fiscal cliff" of tax increases and spending cuts.
The plan, which sparked strong Republican criticism, included a provision allowing the White House to raise the debt ceiling without the consent of Congress.
"Well, it's outrageous," Cornyn said on Fox News.
"It's like saying we maxed out our credit card so I'm going to get a new credit card with no limit so I can keep spending. There needs to be some accountability here and, so far, we're spending 42 cents out of every dollar in Washington and that's borrowed money. And that's money that our kids and grandkids are gonna have to pay back."
The provision is meant to avoid the standoff that occurred in the summer of 2011 when Obama struggled to win congressional Republicans' consent to raise the debt ceiling.
Cornyn went on to say that the proposal was "irresponsible."
"It's profoundly irresponsible," Cornyn said. "So that's a crazy idea and I'm amazed that Secretary Geithner had the courage to float that yesterday."
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