Republicans want to hold our economy hostage again, but they may not get the chance to do so. With the February 27th debt limit deadline looming, House Speaker John Boehner will bring up a clean debt ceiling bill, and many of his members are not happy. Republicans tried to put forward a new list of demands for a debt-limit increase, but Speaker Boehner has given in to the President, and moved up the vote to tonight.

The Republican's previous economic hostage taking has cost our nation billions of dollars and at least 750,000 jobs, but a clean debt ceiling bill could break that cycle, and prevent even more damage. Far-right members have refused to increase the debt limit under any circumstances, so moderate Republicans will have to side with Democrats to pass this legislation. It will be interesting to see how this vote turns out, and whether it furthers the divide in the Republican party.

The hard-core Republicans simply want to block any so-called victory for the President, and they could very well turn on Speaker Boehner for giving up on their list of demands. The Republican economic hostage taking has already cost our nation too much, but perhaps an end to their obstruction is near. Hopefully Congress can pull together the votes to increase the debt limit, and break the cycle of exchanging austerity for basic legislation. Stay tuned.