In tonight’s debate, Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann reiterated that they opposed the compromise debt agreement. They in fact are following the extreme wing of their party that would have allowed our nation to default for the first time in history, which would have had disastrous effects for our economy.

GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TOOK CUES FROM THE EXTREME WING OF THEIR PARTY AND OPPOSED THE COMPROMISE DEBT AGREEMENT

Mitt Romney "Cannot Support This Deal." After staying mostly silent on the debt negotiations, Mitt Romney said he "personally cannot support this deal." [Wall Street Journal, 8/1/11]

Michele Bachmann Voted "No" On The Compromise Debt Agreement. [House Vote 690, 8/1/11]

Tim Pawlenty Opposed The Compromise Debt Agreement. "Mr. Pawlenty’s spokesman, Alex Conant, said Monday the deal is 'nothing to celebrate,' though his written statement did not specifically say whether the former governor would sign the bill. 'Only in Washington would the political class think it’s a victory when the government narrowly avoids default, agrees to go further into debt, and does little to reform a spending system that cannot be sustained,' Mr. Conant’s statement said. 'While no further evidence was needed, this entire debt ceiling fiasco demonstrates that President Obama must be replaced.' In a follow-up email, Mr. Conant said Mr. Pawlenty opposes the deal." [Wall Street Journal, 8/1/11]

TEA PARTY GROUPS OPPOSED THE COMPROMISE DEBT AGREEMENT

Heritage Action Urged Congress To Oppose The Compromise Debt Agreement. "Citing an 'insufficient level of cuts,' an arm of the powerful conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation urged lawmakers to oppose the debt-ceiling compromise brokered by congressional leaders and the White House over the weekend. 'The deal relies on an insufficient level of cuts, a 'super committee' tasked with brokering a grand bargain that will lead to massive tax hikes, massive defense cuts, or both,' reads a statement put out by the organization Monday morning. The Heritage Foundation Action's position will likely cause some Republican lawmakers to think twice about supporting the Budget Control Act of 2011, because the vote will be counted on a scorecard it uses to measure adherence to conservative principles." [The Hill, 8/1/11] 

FreedomWorks Opposed The Compromise Debt Agreement. "The Budget Control Act of 2011 is a political Band-Aid that fails to provide real solutions to the nation's crippling debt and spending problems. While the American people have been given no time to examine the fine print of this back room deal, the more we read the worse it gets." [FreedomWorks, 8/1/11]

Americans For Prosperity Opposed The Compromise Debt Agreement "Until [A] Strong Balanced Budget Amendment Has Been Adopted." "While we appreciate that the debate has been focused on the right problem of spending and has considerably improved from earlier bipartisan proposals, we must remain firm to our commitment to the Cut, Cap, and Balance approach as the only way to genuinely solve the problem of out-of-control spending. Until strong balanced budget amendment has been adopted, we urge Congress to vote no on authorizing any additional debt." [Americans for Prosperity Statement, 8/1/11]

Club For Growth Opposed The Compromise Debt Agreement. The Club for Growth is urging Members of Congress to vote "no" on the debt agreement and said the vote would be included on its 2011 Congressional Score Card. [Club for Growth, 8/1/11]

ECONOMISTS AGREED THAT DEFAULTING WOULD HAVE HURT OUR ECONOMY

Mark Zandi: Failure To Increase The Debt Ceiling Would Have Led To Significant Spending Cuts And A Recession. "'If we get to August 2 and there is no debt ceiling limit, and there has to be significant spending cuts – even if Congress and the administration reverse themselves days later, I think the damage will have been serious, and we probably would be thrown into a recession' [Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark] Zandi said." [Christian Science Monitor, 6/28/11]

Failure To Raise The Debt Ceiling Would Have Meant Immediate Cuts To Social Security. "The Bipartisan Policy Center studied Treasury Department receipts and expenditures for August 2009 and 2010 and determined that the government likely would not have enough revenue to pay the full $23 billion payment to Social Security recipients due on Aug. 3[…] 'We should be honest with ourselves what this would be like, and the answer is it would be chaotic,' said Jerome Powell, a former Treasury official in the first Bush administration. 'There is no way to avoid really serious pain.'" [USA Today, 6/29/11]

Failure To Increase The Debt Ceiling Could Have Resulted In "The Largest Quarterly Economic Decline Since 1947." The Center for American Progress reported that "a two-month failure to raise the debt limit could result in the largest quarterly economic decline since 1947, when relevant data were first reported. That would obviously be a bigger decline than in any quarter of the Great Recession. And the worst quarter of the Great Recession saw a loss of nearly 2 million jobs." [Center for American Progress, 7/7/11]