Source:
Washington PostPresident Obama
opened the door Friday to a less ambitious compromise to the looming debt-ceiling crisis than the “grand bargain” he has been pushing for, acknowledging that other alternatives might be needed to win approval in time to avoid a federal default.
After two weeks of urging Congress to embrace his plan to shave $4 trillion off the projected national debt, Obama said other options must be on the negotiating table with the Aug. 2 deadline just days away. Those include a complex proposal that Senate negotiators were working on to find smaller savings and establish a new framework for tax and entitlement reform. "If we can’t do the biggest deal possible, then let’s still be ambitious. Let’s still try to at least get a down payment on deficit reduction,” Obama said at a White House news conference.
White House Chief of Staff William M. Daley and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner met Friday in the Capitol with House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.). According to a Democratic lawmaker and Democratic and GOP aides briefed on the meeting, the officials discussed whether some portions of the “big deal” — which originally included major overhauls to the tax code and entitlement benefits — could be included in the Senate plan. GOP leaders rejected Obama’s previous offering because it calls for a net increase in tax revenue approaching $1 trillion.
But most congressional and administration officials focused instead on drafting a Senate-driven deal
that could win bipartisan support in both chambers, with first steps possibly coming in the middle of next week.
Read more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obama-still-pushing-for-big-deal-on-debt/2011/07/15/gIQArjbFGI_story.html?hpid=z1
Bipartisan...Bipartisan...
Bipartisan.
:argh::grr::puke:
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(400 posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
