Debt Ceiling 2013 Deadline Extended to Spring As Republicans Gear Up for Fiscal Showdown in March

The House GOP avoided a fight over the debt ceiling today, by passing a bill extending the country' ability to pay its debts until mid-May.

"The bill passed, 285-144, with the support of the vast majority of Republicans and several dozen Democrats," wrote Time. "Senate Democrats mocked the legislation but signaled they would pass it, and the White House issued a statement saying it 'would not oppose' the measure, paving the way for a stopgap solution that lifts the burden of another debt-ceiling crisis until May 19."

The bill doesn't raise the debt ceiling; it merely suspends it for a few months, so this issue will need to be dealt with eventually, and Republicans are delaying the fight until they are more ready.

"The House GOP remains determined to slash the size of government at some point during the three fiscal fights - over the debt ceiling, the sequester, and the resolution to fund the government for 2013 -- scheduled this spring," reports Time. "They were warned by Wall Street leaders, GOP pollsters and strategists, powerful conservative outside groups, and their own leadership that the debt ceiling was the worst hill to die on. Even Club for Growth boss Chris Chocola, a guy who monitors conservative pure-bloodedness like one of Voldemort's minions, didn't oppose the Republican retreat on the issue. The politics were too treacherous. So the GOP re-ordered the budget battles to place the most perilous one at the end."

The first round of sequestration scheduled for March 1 will likely go into effect unchallenged by either party.

"House Republicans say punting the debt ceiling to May 18 is not so much a retreat as a 'reordering' of the coming budget showdowns. House Republicans now take for granted that the first deadline, March 1, will come and go, and $110 billion in across-the-board spending cuts to defense and domestic programs will go into force," wrote the New York Times.

"The next real showdown will come by March 27, when the stopgap measure financing the government expires. Republicans have made clear that they are willing to let the government shut down at that time to force deep spending cuts or changes to Medicare and Social Security that would bring down deficits in the long run."

So Republicans seem to have bought the country a bit of time, but the bills come due soon.