At the same time, Republicans wouldn't have to agree to tax increases. The proposal would force Democrats to cast multiple votes to raise the debt ceiling before the next election, while giving Republicans the chance to vote against that without risking a default.
The increases would come in amounts of $700 billion, $900 billion and $900 billion, McConnell said. They would occur over the remainder of Obama's presidential term, in keeping with the president's call for an increase in the debt limit that would carry through the 2012 elections.
Grover Norquist, head of the anti-tax Americans for Tax Reform, said the Republican leader's proposal was an acceptable "fallback plan."
'Smoking Out' Obama
Norquist said the requirement that Obama accompany a debt- limit increase with a list of proposed spending cuts would accomplish "an incredibly important thing" by "smoking out" Obama on how he would cut the budget.
"If he presents a phony plan, the world can see and we go into the 2012 election and deal with those Democratic senators and president who didn't take this seriously," added Norquist, who has said most House and Senate Republicans have signed a pledge he distributes vowing not to raise taxes.
Patrick Griffin, who was President Bill Clinton's chief congressional lobbyist from 1994 to 1996, said McConnell's proposal shows the Republican leader's leverage in the negotiations is slipping.
"I would read it as weakness, at least on McConnell's part," Griffin said. "He blinked."