Weigel

Very soon, the Republican Study Committee will send an open letter to Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Cantor laying out what its members -- a majority of the GOP conference -- want in order to move ahead on a debt ceiling vote. The draft text doesn't actually say these concessions will guarantee their support. In fact, it argues that Republicans should "limit the extension of borrowing authority as much as possible, in order to demand accountability from Senate Democrats and the Obama Administration." But here are the three key demands:

- "Discretionary and mandatory spending reductions that would cut the deficit in half next year."

- "Statutory, enforceable total-spending caps to reduce federal spending to 18% of GDP."

The last demand: for Congress to "send to the states a Balanced Budget Amendment with strong protections against federal tax increases and including a Spending Limitation Amendment."