As the debt-ceiling vote approaches, and the political world waits to see if congressional Republicans plan to wreck the economy, potential Republican presidential candidates are taking the opportunity to weigh in. They have to appeal to the sensibilities of their partisan fellow travelers, of course. What advice do, for instance, Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney have for their cohorts in Congress? Do Pawlenty and Romney along with other Republican hopefuls intend to show their fitness for the presidency by supporting policies that would plunge the country into an economic crisis, or will they support raising the debt ceiling in the name of a smoothly functioning government? Through this continually updated chart, the Prospect will let you know where the GOP candidates stand and whether that stand changes. (Percentages show the candidates' favorability among Republican voters according to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll.)
Click on the image to see where the Republican contender stands on the debt ceiling.
Mike Huckabee
"One of the things that gives this a little bit of juice for the Republicans is that Senator Barack Obama in 2006 stood on the Senate floor with an impassioned speech, saying that we should not raise the debt limit, that it was the lack of leadership, and that George Bush was just completely derelict in duty by asking Congress to raise that debt limit.
"What the Republicans need to do is to not become the bad boys but to simply take the president at his word, and say, 'Mr. President, we certainly don't think you've made this radical a change in just a few years, so we're going to take you up on it. You were right then. Rarely, do we think you're right, but by golly, we think you're right this time. We're going to do what you suggested.'
"Make him say why that things are so different that his rhetoric then doesn't match what he now says would be this catastrophic moment today."
Sarah Palin
"Now we enter a new ring ... and in that new ring comes the fight for the debt ceiling. And there needs to be an understanding in the GOP leadership that we cannot provide another tool for the liberals to just incur more debt, and that's what raising the debt ceiling is going to allow again."
Newt Gingrich
"If I was looking at one big decision for the debt ceiling, I would put on there block-granting Medicaid. If we sent Medicaid back to the states -- it's the second biggest health entitlement after Medicare -- we clearly don't know how to run it at a federal level; they're averaging over 10 percent of the money going to crooks in New York state under the federal-run Medicaid. If we would send it back to the 50 states, allow them to try to develop new and better approaches, that would be a large enough change that it would justify a vote for the debt ceiling. But I would not vote for the debt ceiling without a very, very significant change in the trajectory of spending."
Mitt Romney
"President Obama is responsible for frightening new levels of federal spending and deficits. As a result, the nation has amassed an unheard-of level of debt that imperils our financial standing in the world. I've never seen an enterprise in more desperate need of a turnaround than the U.S. government. We cannot lose sight of the need to move the president toward meaningful fiscal responsibility. A vote on raising the debt ceiling has to be accompanied by a major effort to restructure and reduce the size of government."
Donald Trump:
Suprisingly quiet.
Michele Bachmann
"In 2006, then-Senator Obama voted against raising our country's debt limit, and now he calls this vote 'a mistake.' If Barack Obama believes that voting against taking on new debt is a mistake, then it's time for new leadership in the White House. Every elected official in Washington -- especially Barack Obama -- needs to hear your voice loud and clear. We need to flood Congress with the message that we are against raising the debt ceiling. That's why it is so important for you to add your name to this petition right now."
Tim Pawlenty
"'We have to draw the line in the sand and say, we've got to get our house in order. ... We've got a country that's going broke. We can't afford what we have, much less adding anything new to it. The debt ceiling limit is really a spending limit. '"
Rick Santorum
Beck: "OK. I know I keep saying this is the last question, but I just thought of another one I have to ask you. The debt ceiling. Do we vote to extend the debt ceiling?"
Santorum: "No. Look. The only reason you vote to extend the debt ceiling is you get substantial concessions out of this administration on programs that have a meaningful change in the reduction of the deficit and to me, first and foremost, would be Obamacare. I think we have to -- we have to draw a line. This is the reason I objected to what was going on the last few weeks with the continued resolution. We're fighting over $10 billion, $20 billion. We've got to fight over -- we've got to fight over principles that matter for the future of our country."
Mitch Daniels
"'I definitely think that in the really critical fiscal corner we've painted ourselves into, it is entirely appropriate to use that moment to surface these issues, and I hope for some leverage to get some real change."