Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) thinks Speaker John Boehner's plan to raise the debt-ceiling for six months carries "high, high debt downgrade possibilities" that would ultimately harm the American public.

"The notion of re-litigating this in six months ... I'm not sure what that'll say to the markets around the world," Warner said Thursday. "Every indication is that a two-step process will get us a debt downgrade."

Warner, a member of the bipartisan deficit-reduction group, the Gang of Six, also called the debt-ceiling debate the "most predictable financial crisis in our life."

Warner made his remarks during a discussion with Chief White House Correspondent Mike Allen at a POLITICO Playbook breakfast Thursday morning at the Newseum in Washington.

"I never assumed that we'd be five days out and not know exactly how the game path would play out," Warner told Allen. "It's the height of irresponsibility for us to be this close to the deadline."

Even despite his frustrations, Warner predicted that some final action will pass Congress by Aug. 2 - when the Treasury Department has said the government will no longer be able to pay its bills. If Congress can't reach a deal by then, Warner said that "all of us ought to be fired."

Warner also said that even Majority Leader Harry Reid's debt-ceiling plan is only a first step to getting the country's fiscal health on track. The so-called Gang of Six hashed out a proposal that would cut about $3.7 trillion over a decade and includes both new revenues and cuts to entitlement programs.

Warner and the other members of the gang- Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Kent Conrad (N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla) - spent months negotiating in Senate conference rooms, in private homes, and even at Charlie Palmer's restaurant over a glass of wine or two.

That's the kind of cooperation and time together needed to tackle problems as daunting as the nation's debt, Warner said. He knocked the idea of a commission - a feature included in both the Reid and Boehner proposals - that would later identify more spending cuts, because he said it would face another political gridlock with commission members being expected to stick more to the party line.

"The idea that you're going to throw a group of 12 together ... to produce a product?" Warner said. "I just don't see that happening. I'd love to be wrong. I pray that I'm wrong."

Fast-forwarding to 2012 politics, Warner predicted that President Barack Obama would again win Virginia and nationally, but acknowledged that it is a "tough, tough time."

"He has to show that we're going to make progress on this issue of debt and deficit and show that we've got a plan and make sure we move aggressively on the question on how to create jobs," he said.

LaHood urges end to U.S. aviation standoff  

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood urged 

Congress on Thursday to end a partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and restore full funding to the agency.

LaHood said he thinks the House of Representatives and the Senate could find a way to resolve their differences over the political standoff over spending that has resulted in furloughs of nearly 4,000 federal aviation employees and a halt to airport construction projects.

LaHood also said his agency and the Treasury Department are working on a way to address air fare increase triggered by the shutdown, which prevented airlines from collecting federal ticket taxes.