Key Democrat enthused about Gang of Six debt plan

[July 20, 2011]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- The senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee says a deficit-reduction proposal by the Gang of Six is promising, but there's likely too little time for Congress to act before the Aug. 2 default deadline.

Maryland's Chris Van Hollen says "there's still a lot of details that have not come out."

The congressman tells MSNBC Wednesday morning that the new outline suggested by three Democrat and three Republican senators "provides some additional momentum" for ending the political stalemate. He adds, however, "it's really hard to get our caucus to focus" without more details.

Van Hollen said "we need to proceed with Plan B in case this thing unravels." He was referring to a proposal to give President Barack Obama authority to increase the debt limit incrementally.

[Associated Press]

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