Hoyer attacks Toomey

Another sign that Sen. Pat Toomey's argument that hitting the debt ceiling wouldn't be all that bad (at least at first) is starting to catch on among Republicans -- a leading Democrat singled it out for criticism. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer went after Toomey today, reports Slate's Dave Weigel (emphasis mine):

I asked Rep. Steny Hoyer ... about some Republicans' skepticism that anything needed to happen on the debt limit -- skepticism fueled, at least a little, by the shifting date at which doomsday is supposed to occur.

"I talked to the Secretary specifically about it," said Hoyer, "and I said, 'The problem is, you give us more dates, and we procrastinate.' But what he said, honestly, was, 'Look. I've got to give an honest date. My people are now saying revenues are up. We're getting more cash flow. Transparently, what's accurate now is that given the cash flow we can get to August 2 before we hit that wall."

This isn't to say Hoyer soft-peddled the risks of no vote.

"There is nobody who doesn't believe that the debt limit needs to be extended, in my view," he said. The word "nobody" was punctuated by him slamming his hand on the table. "Now, Mr. Toomey may think it doesn't need to be extended. And when they stop paying Social Security benefits, when they stop paying veterans' benefits, because they're paying debt first and there's not not enough money left over for the other, he's going to say, in my view, 'Well, I didn't mean that.'"

Hoyer photo from Reuters.