White House accuses Republicans in debt debate.
Democrats say opponents change position at the last minute.
In a preview of what is expected to be another long and tense week on the political scene, the White House accused Republican leaders of switching positions in the debate over raising the US debt ceiling. Republicans, on the other hand, deny the accusations.
White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said that Republican leaders, such as House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, were previously against raising the debt ceiling for only a short period. Now, Republican lawmakers are reportedly working on an agreement that would raise the debt limit for about six months.
"Now, Republicans are arguing that we should adopt various short-term solutions, which would leave a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the economy for the next two years or more," Pfeiffer said in a post on the official White House blog.
Pfeiffer's publication includes press articles where Cantor and other Republicans suggest that raising the limit for a short period is tantamount to postponing difficult decisions and could cause significant uncertainty in financial markets.
Cantor's office released a statement saying that he, House Speaker John Boehner, and other Republican representatives "have repeatedly said that the best path is a long-term solution with spending cuts equal to (or greater than) raising the debt ceiling, without increasing taxes."
The debate over the timing of raising the debt ceiling has become more tense as the deadline of August 2nd approaches, and with the failure of negotiations last week to reduce the country's deficit. The Treasury Department has already stated that the US government will default if the debt limit is not raised by next Tuesday.
US President Barack Obama has vowed to veto any proposal that does not raise the debt ceiling by 2012, due to fears that next year's elections will make an agreement between Democrats and Republicans even more difficult.