Democrats see wiggle room on Obama’s Aug. 2 debt-limit deadline

Democrats see wiggle room on Obama’s Aug. 2 debt-limit deadline
By Alexander Bolton - 07/27/11 08:56 PM ET

The Aug. 2 deadline for raising the nation’s debt ceiling might not be as rigid a cutoff date as the administration has been saying, according to some senior Senate Democrats.

Senate Democrats, in the midst of stalemated negotiations, acknowledge there might be some flexibility with the deadline Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has set for raising the national debt limit.

While administration officials have insisted there is no wiggle room beyond Tuesday, some senior Democrats say the economy will not necessarily come crashing down immediately.

Analyses by Barclays and UBS suggest a national default could be pushed back until Aug. 8 or Aug. 10 because the federal government has received a higher flow of tax revenues than it had earlier anticipated.