The House of Representatives voted Tuesday against raising the US debt limit in a political move by majority Republicans to stress the need for government spending cuts.

The 97-318 vote shot down a request by President Barack Obama to increase the debt ceiling beyond its current limit of 14.3 trillion dollars, which was reached earlier this month. Lawmakers have until August 2 to reach an agreement on the matter.

Eighty-two Democrats voted with Republicans in rejecting the measure.

Republicans have said they will only raise the limit with accompanying spending cuts, and the vote was seen as a political manouevre to push the White House in that direction. The Obama request would only have raised the debt limit without tying the move to any spending cuts.

'With today's vote this House will declare to the American people and to the credit rating agencies that business as usual in Washington is over. Not only is the era of debt denial over, but so is Washington's out of control spending,' said Republican Congressman Dave Camp, who heads the House committee that deals with taxation.

'Today, we are making clear that Republicans will not accept an increase in our nation's debt limit without substantial spending cuts and real budgetary reforms.'

The White House however said it was confident that Congress would eventually approve an increase in the limit.

Obama is to meet Wednesday with the 241 House Republicans to discuss the issue, and Vice President Joe Biden has been leading negotiations with a key group of lawmakers with a view toward agreeing on the debt limit and spending cuts.

'We have to raise the debt ceiling,' said White House spokesman Jay Carney. 'There is no option to doing that - and that that will happen, because the economic impacts of not voting to raise the debt ceiling would be calamitous.'

In years past, Congress has cooperated and raised the debt ceiling, but the enormous debt has become a political rallying cry for Republicans and a focus of worry for the international community.

M & C