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Summary The US House of Representatives passed a bill to raise the debt ceiling.
By a vote of 269 to 161, the US House of representatives passed legislation to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling and avert a devastating debt default.The plan will raise the borrowing limit into 2013. It calls for spending cuts spread over 10 years and creates a new congressional committee to recommend a deficit-reduction package by late November.Republican Congressman Paul Ryan, focused on the bipartisan nature of the bill, while House minority leader Nancy Peloisi reluctantly supported the bill.The Senate is expected to vote on the bill on Tuesday.The agreement envisages raising limit on US borrowing and forestall an unprecedented American default. The deal was struck late Sunday after weeks of outright partisan warfare.Earlier, President Obama said said the plan cuts domestic spending to percentage levels not seen in more than 50 years. But many of the tea party-backed Republican first-term members of the House of Representatives and their liberal Democratic counterparts remained deeply dissatisfied with the measure.The deal aims to prevent a downgrade of Americas credit rating, and news of the agreement initially buoyed global investors, but European markets surrendered those increases and closed down significantly on worries about the American economy. US stocks also climbed after opening but slipped well into negative territory after a bad report on American manufacturing.Obama sent a video to Congress aimed at selling Democrats on the plan. This has been a long and messy process, he said. As with any compromise, the outcome is far from satisfying.
