Obama on Debt Talks: If not now, when?
by Thelma Sardin
With a looming deadline, President Obama continued to negotiate with lawmakers to get the nations $14.3 trillion debt ceiling raised by Aug 2 as Republicans used harsh rhetoric to describe the Presidents efforts.
On Tuesday morning, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had stern remarks on the Senate floor about the status of the debt negotiations as well as House Speaker John Boehner (R- OH).
"In my view, the president has presented us with three choices," said McConnell referring to efforts to raise the debt ceiling. "Smoke and mirrors, tax hikes, or default."
At one point, McConnell said: "I have little question that as long as this president is in the Oval Office, a real solution is unattainable."
"This debt limit increase is his problem," Boehner said. "I think it's time for him to lead by putting his plan on the table, something that the Congress can pass."
But at a news conference on Monday, Obama said he has "bent over backwards" to work with Republicans on a debt reduction deal that makes real cuts, including changes to Social Security and Medicare; in return, Republicans must sign off on new government revenues via the elimination of certain tax breaks for the wealthy, as reported by USA Today.
"I do not see a path to a deal if they don't budge, period," Obama said. "I mean, if the basic proposition is "it's my way or the highway," then we're probably not going to get something done because we've got divided government."
At Citizen press time, lawmakers were scheduled to meet with the president on Tuesday afternoon for the third straight day of talks. Obama has pledged to meet with congressional leaders every day until the issue is resolved. The President was also scheduled to respond to the latest Republican comments during an interview with CBS News Anchor Scott Pelley on Tuesday evening.
During Mondays news conference, Obama said that he and Boehner had been in a series of conversations about reaching the biggest deal possible to resolve the nations debt and deficit challenges for a long period of time.
The president said that pushing for the biggest deal is not easy.
I continue to push congressional leaders for the largest possible deal. And there's going to be resistance. There is, frankly, resistance on my side to do anything on entitlements. There is strong resistance on the Republican side to do anything on revenues. But if each side takes a maximalist position, if each side wants 100 percent of what its ideological predispositions are, then we cant get anything done.
Obama wants a deal to be reached as soon as possible and says he will not sign an extension.
"The things that I will not consider are a 30-day or a 60-day or a 90-day or a 180-day temporary stopgap resolution to this problem. This is the United States of America, and we don't manage our affairs in three-month increments," he said.
The president says hes even willing to be grilled by his own party to get a deal finalized.
[I] am willing to take significant heat from my party to get something done, he added.
Obama suggested that if a deal is not reached soon it could result in another potential recession for the countrysomething that he does not want to see happen.
Throughout the press conference, Obama reiterated to reporters that a deal will be met soon.
We are going to get this done by August 2, he said.
Obama also reiterated that the debt ceiling issue must be rectified now. If not now, when? he said.
Boehner met with reporters on Monday afternoon sounding off on the presidents morning press conference.
Boehner admitted that he does agree with the president on some level but voiced his concerns over raising the debt ceiling.
I agree with the president that the national debt limit must be raised and Im glad that he made the case for it today, but the American people will not accept -- and the House cannot pass -- a bill that raises taxes on job creators, Boehner said. The House can only pass a debt limit bill that includes spending cuts larger than the hike in the debt limit as well as real restraints on future spending.
In addition, Boehner said that raising taxes is off the table and suggested that the president should be satisfied getting his requested debt limit increase, according to ABC News.
This is going to take sacrifice, and this is going to take political capital on both sides, and Im certainly willing to take my fair share of it, but if were going to take political capital then lets step up and do the big thing and the right thing for the country, Boehner said. Most Americans would say that a balanced approach is a simple one: the administration gets its debt limit increase and the American people get their spending cuts and their reforms, and adding tax increases to the equation doesnt balance anything.
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