by Jason Walsh

Uploaded: Tuesday, August 2, 2011, 10:35 AM

Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey compared the debt-ceiling compromise to Republican extortion Monday, after she voted against the deal that will raise the debt limit by $2.4 trillion and cut federal spending by $2.1 trillion—while closing zero tax loopholes for the wealthy.

Despite Woolsey's opposition, the compromise passed the House of Representatives 269 – 161. On Tuesday, it cleared the Senate 74 – 26, with both California Senators Feinstein and Boxer voting "aye." President Obama then signed the deal into law.

The 6th district Representative said at a press conference following her vote that the deal levied all of the financial burden on the middle and working classes, while requiring "nothing from billionaires, millionaires and companies that send jobs overseas."

The deal was sealed by Congress in the eleventh hour, as the Aug. 2 debt-deadline loomed and the world watched to see how investors and creditors would react if the United States defaulted on the borrowing it incurred during the Bush administration.

Woolsey noted that debt-ceiling raises have previously been quite "routine" for leaders of both parties to vote for. Congress approved debt-ceiling raises seven times during the George W. Bush administration; four times during the Clinton years; nine times during the George H.W. Bush presidency; and 18 times during the Reagan administration

Source: http://www.pacificsun.com/news/show_story.php?id=3398&e=y