Rehberg, Baucus, Tester spar on debt ceiling

Montana's U. S. lawmakers were sparring Friday after the Senate shot down a budget and debt ceiling proposal passed by the House, with the state's sole representative calling the Senate action gamesmanship and one senator saying the bill even being proposed was "incredible. "

The issue was the House bill known as Cut, Cap and Balance, which would have cut spending, set the national spending at a maximum of 18 percent of the gross domestic product, and required Congress to send a balanced budget amendment to the states in return for raising the debt ceiling.

Officials and economists say if the...