A Republican plan to resolve the U.S. debt crisis faces a vote in Congress Thursday, with less than a week to go before the nation runs out of money to pay its bills.Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives are voting on a measure put forward by House Speaker John Boehner that would raise the nation's $14.3 trillion borrowing limit in exchange for billions of dollars in spending cuts. President Barack Obama has threatened to veto the legislation. It has also drawn opposition from the president's Democratic allies in the Senate, as well as Republicans who are part of the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement.
On Wednesday, Boehner issued a blunt call to action to Republican lawmakers to get behind the plan.President Obama supports a competing plan being pushed by the Senate majority leader, Democrat Harry Reid, that involves a larger increase in the debt ceiling.Without legislation in place by the August 2 deadline, the U.S. could default on some of its obligations. The U.S. Treasury Department, the central bank and the White House have all warned that a default would have catastrophic consequences on the economy. Economists have said a default would also have a very negative effect on the global economy.