The fact is, if we’re going to get rid of his sequester, we’re going to have to look for smarter spending cuts in order to do that.” 
 
 The Speaker reiterated that Republicans would not simply lift the debt ceiling without concessions from Democrats. “We will not negotiate over Congress’s responsibility to pay the bills that Congress ran up,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said when asked about Boehner’s remarks. “The president believes Republican leaders share that conviction.” 
 
 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said yesterday that Democrats are “not negotiating on the debt ceiling.” 
 
 Congress should pass a debt-ceiling increase without any “hijinks” to ensure a stable economy, Senator Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, told reporters July 18. “I believe the so-called Boehner Rule is the right formula for getting that done,” he later added, referring to the eponymous rule matching new debt authority with spending cuts 
 
 Republican House Speaker John Boehner talks about immigration reform Tuesday on Capitol Hill. While Republicans extracted spending cuts during the initial 2011 fight over extending the debt ceiling, it produced the so-called “fiscal cliff” – a combination of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts – with which Congress had to reckon at the end of 2012. To contact the reporter on this story: Roxana Tiron in Washington at rtiron@bloomberg.net 
 
 To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jodi Schneider at jschneider50@bloomberg.net
– See if this sounds familiar: The White House and House Republicans appear headed toward a standoff over the debt ceiling this fall, reports NBC News. That's after John Boehner's statement this morning: “We're not going to raise the debt ceiling without real cuts in spending. It's as simple as that.” Democrats such as Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer said last week that Congress should pass an extension of the debt ceiling without strings attached, reports Bloomberg. Both sides appear to be jockeying for public opinion, with Boehner getting out ahead of President Obama's planned speeches on the economy starting tomorrow, reports the Hill. Boehner warned that Obama would be laying the ground for tax hikes. Treasury chief Jack Lew says the nation has enough money to operate without new borrowing until about Labor Day.