WASHINGTON – Rep. Lou Barletta of Hazleton, part of the House Republican freshman class who House Speaker John Boehner furiously lobbied to accept his debt ceiling compromise, took to the House floor Thursday to proclaim his support for the plan to cut $917 billion in spending in exchange for raising the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by $900 billion.

But House GOP leaders suddenly postponed the vote early Thursday evening, possibly lacking confidence that enough conservative Republicans, especially the sometimes rebellious freshman class, would vote for the measure.

While saying he would have preferred the larger cuts – totaling $5.8 trillion – and a vote on a balanced budgetamendment contained in the House GOP-approved “Cut, Cap and Balance” bill, Barletta said that the country could not be allowed to default on its obligations.

Saying that calls to his office from his Northeast Pennsylvania constituents indicate that Americans want the “bickering” to stop in Washington, Barletta said that while Boehner’s plan “is far from perfect, it accommodates the priorities of the people sitting on both sides of the table, both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Capitol.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said Boehner’s plan won’t pass the Senate, and he is expected to put his version of a compromise on the Senate floor and send that back to the House. Reid’s bill makes cuts and raises the debt ceiling through the 2012 election, while the Boehner plan only raises it for about six months. President Obama has indicated he would veto the Boehner plan.

Barletta indicated that he is looking for a compromise before the Aug. 2 default date.

“If we in this chamber, if our friends in the other chamber, or if the president holds out for the perfect plan, well, the United States will likely default on its obligations,” Barletta said. “As the responsible stewards of the people’s government, we cannot let that happen. And I am confident we will not let that happen.”

But the other GOP House freshman from the Wilkes-Barre area, Rep. Tom Marino of Lycoming County, said Thursday when the House vote was postponed that he would say whether he would vote in favor of the Boehner bill until he cast his vote..

Marino “would only consider raising the debt ceiling if the move is in the spirit of the Cut, Cap and Balance Act for which he voted last week,” his office said earlier this week. “An increase in the debt limit would have to include serious spending cuts, caps on future spending, the prospect of a balanced budget amendment, and serious tax reform.”

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