Escalation: Cantor vows to block debt-ceiling increase without major reforms

One day after being named to a presidential task force to negotiate deficit reduction, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor fired off a stark warning to Democrats that the GOP “will not grant their request for a debt limit increase” without major spending cuts or budget process reforms…

Republicans are floating a wide range of major structural reforms that could be attached to the debt limit vote, including statutory spending caps, a balanced budget amendment and a two-thirds vote requirement for tax increases and debt limit increases. Liberals want a “clean” vote to raise the $14.3 trillion borrowing limit…

Aside from his post in leadership, Cantor’s remark carries additional significance because he is the House Republican representative on a White House panel slated to examine the nation’s deficit in the months leading up to the debt ceiling increase. The Virginia Republican also warned that the panel, led by Vice President Joesph R. Biden and composed of members of Congress, needs “a clearly defined mission and a targeted purpose to be accomplished within a specific and binding timeframe.”