Obama steps in, but no deal in sight on debt talks
Senate leaders will meet with President Obama on Monday to "discuss the status of the negotiations to find common ground on a balanced approach to deficit reduction," according to a statement White House Press Secretary Jay Carney and confirmed by Senate leadership aides.
Majority leader Harry Reid will sit down with the president in the morning and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will have his own meeting with the president in the afternoon.
"It is my hope that the President requested this meeting in order to finally explain what it is that he's prepared to do to solve our nation's fiscal crisis" McConnell said in a statement. "He's requested an increase in the debt ceiling, but hasn't yet explained to the American people what, other than tax hikes, he's prepared to do about the massive deficits we've seen during his administration. The President needs to decide between his goal of massive tax hikes, and a bipartisan plan to address our deficit. But he can't have both."
The meetings were announced just one day after negotiations to increase the debt limit between Vice President Biden and bipartisan congressional leaders collapsed with the exit of Republicans Majority leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, R-Ariz. Cantor and Kyl said that in the group's efforts to cut spending at the same or higher levels than the increase in the borrowing limit, Democrats were insisting on tax increases that Republicans had made clear could not pass the House of Representative.
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The Republican exodus stalled nearly eight weeks of talks that had been making progress according to members and aides involved in negotiations. Negotiators had agreed on some spending cuts, but had left the tough issues of taxes and entitlements for this week. But even at their last meeting on Wednesday, Democrats said that there was no indication Republicans were heading for the exits.
Mr. Obama said that he wanted a deal by the beginning of July to give congressional leaders time to sell the package to members and pass both the House and Senate by August 2nd. That's when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the government will start defaulting on its debts without an increase in the country's borrowing limit.
The meeting with Senate leaders happens at the beginning of another district work period, or "recess," for the House of Representatives. Members of the House will be out of town until after the July 4th.
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Even House Speaker John Boehner, who met with the president on Wednesday night, is heading out of town doing political events around the country. The speaker insists that the ball is now in the president's court to come up with a plan to raise the debt limit, but cut spending without tax cuts and reform how the federal government spends money in the future.
"If the president puts forth such a proposal, he has my word that the House will act on it" Boehner said in a statement. "But a measure that fails to meet these tests cannot pass the House. If the president wants this done, he must lead."
Though leaders like McConnell have raised the possibility of passing a smaller increase in the debt limit, House Republicans have so far rejected the idea. An aide to Speaker Boehner says that the goal is still a long-term package. Negotiators had been aiming to increase the limit by over $2 trillion with the same amount in deficit reduction. That would be expected to cover the country's borrowing needs until after the 2012 elections.
