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With days to go before the United States faces what President Obama has called financial "Armageddon", the legislative path to averting a debt crisis appears murkier than ever.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid dismissed a proposal issued a day earlier by Republican House Speaker John Boehner that would trim the federal deficit and raise the debt ceiling in two stages.

"It is a short-term fix Republicans know is untenable to Democrats in the White House and Congress. In short, Republican plan, they know, will not pass the Senate of the United States."

Moments later, the Senate's top Republican, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, blasted a plan put forth by Senator Reid that would also cut spending, but allow for a single, large-scale increase in federal borrowing authority.

"We'll fight against anything that pretends to solve the problem, but doesn't. The majority leader proposed a plan yesterday that's nothing more than another attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the American people."

Although in the minority, Republicans have sufficient numbers to block a final vote on the Reid plan. The Reid plan is considered dead on arrival in the House of Representatives, as is the Boehner plan in the Senate.

In fact, passage of the Boehner plan in the House is far from assured. Minority Democrats oppose the Republican proposal, and some members of the Tea Party faction of the Republican caucus have pledged to vote against any increase in the debt ceiling on ideological grounds.

想要通过法律手段扭转美国的债务危机局面比以往更加艰巨，而几天之后的美国就将面临奥巴马总统所说的财政“修罗场”。

参议院多数党领袖、民主党人哈里•里德拒绝了一项由共和党众议院发言人约翰-博纳于前一天早些时候提出的方案。该方案提议削减联邦赤字，并按“两步走”的方式提高美国债务上限。

“这是临时救急方案，在白宫和国会的民主党人士前根本站不住脚，共和党对此心知肚明。简单来说，他们的计划在美国参议院是行不通的。”

不久之后，少数党领袖、参议院最高共和党人米奇-麦克康奈尔痛斥了里德所提出的方案。里德的方案虽然同样削减支出，但却同意单笔联邦债务的大幅增额。

“对于假装解决问题却无实质作用的提案，我们将反对到底。多数党领袖昨日提出的方案，充其量只不过是再次糊弄美国人民的烟雾弹而已。”

尽管是少数党派，共和党仍有充足的选票以否决里德的方案。面临着博纳方案在参议院的相似境遇，它也无法通过众议院的审核。

事实上，博纳的方案能否在众议院通过还很难说。少数党民主人士反对共和党的提案。茶党派别的共和党团体中，部分成员曾发誓投票反对一切脱离理想状态的债务上限增加。