Cokie Roberts on NPR: GOP Promising 'Armageddon' on Debt Ceiling Issue

NPR's Cokie Roberts hinted congressional Republicans were going to resort to extreme tactics regarding the debt ceiling on Monday's Morning Edition. Roberts noted the "rough votes" on the horizon in Congress, specifying the "debt ceiling that has to be increased, where Republicans have promised Armageddon."

Host Renee Montagne brought on the journalist to talk mainly about the recent proposed agreement on the budget between the Democrats and Republicans. Near the end of the segment, however, Montagne raised the other budget-related battles that are expected later in the year. Roberts dropped the biblical reference in her answer:

MONTAGNE: So, Cokie, what now? Is there a way to avoid these dramatic countdowns to crisis in the future? I mean, there's some pretty, big dramatic issues coming up.

ROBERTS: True. Of course, we got to this crisis because the Democrats failed to fund the government when they were supposed to last year, because they didn't want to take those votes before an election. Rough votes coming up now: a debt ceiling that has to be increased, where Republicans have promised Armageddon, and the 2012 budget, which will be voted on in the House this week.

Earlier, the host asked about the federal funding of Planned Parenthood, which was one of the main controversies in the recent fight over the budget. Unsurprisingly, the NPR analyst parroted some of the left's talking points on the issue:

MONTAGNE: ...The White House noted that the President was standing firm on money for Planned Parenthood. Why did that become such a big issue?

ROBERTS: Well, the President was thinking about independent voters, especially suburban independent voters who tend to support organizations like Planned Parenthood. Republicans are trying to cut off funding because they say they use the non-federal dollars for abortions and the Republicans are against abortions. But the President, even as he was saying that he was bringing people together, and he was the grown up, as he put it, in this fight, he was hanging tough on something and it was on that question of funding Planned Parenthood, where the White House told reporters that when Speaker Boehner pushed for cutting money for Planned Parenthood, the President just said no.