(Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)Following a public breakdown in debt limit talks on Capitol Hill, President Obama reports he will meet with congressional Republicans to continue the discussion Thursday at a closed-door meeting. "I've asked leaders of both parties and both houses of Congress to come here to the White House on Thursday so we can build on the work that's already been done and drive towards a final agreement," the president said at a Tuesday night press briefing.
Obama slammed talk of a short-term deal to raise the government's debt ceiling to avoid default before the Aug. 2 deadline. He insisted that such an agreement would simply "kick the can down the road" and would achieve no long-term accord on the country's deficit problems. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) is among those lawmakers who've publicly floated that idea.
Talks with congressional leaders appeared to stall two weeks ago when House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), walked out of discussions headed by Vice President Joe Biden over Democratic demands for an increase in tax revenue--a move Cantor and other critics say would just translate into tax hikes. Republicans say any deal to increase the debt limit must include offsets via spending cuts.
Obama chose to publicly scold members of Congress at a press conference last week, accusing Republicans of an unwillingness to cut their "sacred cows" and suggesting all members have procrastinated on the debt ceiling issue, comparing their work ethic--unfavorably--to that of his two young daughters.
Republicans quickly pushed back on the accusations, including the president's claim that he's been more available to work on this issue than have members of Congress, who have been in and out of recess.
"I think the best way to get an appointment with the president is to set up a tee time," Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said on Fox News last week, referencing Obama's enthusiasm for golf.
McConnell (who has invited the president to talks and been refused in recent days) and other GOP lawmakers have confirmed that they have accepted the president's invitation, but they note that they have yet to see what will be proposed.
McConnell expressed hope, but also doubts about the talks during a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday morning:
We're eager to meet with the president to see if he is really willing to do something big for the country. We don't think it's absolutist to oppose more stimulus spending. We don't think it's Maximalist to oppose hundreds of billions of dollars of tax hikes in the middle of a job crisis. We have a better term for it: common sense. So we're ready to meet with the president on Thursday. Maybe he will have changed his mind and returned to his commonsense approach just back in December when he said that preventing tax hikes means -- quote -- 'freeing up other money to hire new workers.'
Indeed, amid all the partisan charges and counter-charges, leaders on both sides of the aisle remain doubtful about the odds for a final accord on a deal to raise the debt ceiling.
Even as he announced the scheduled Thursday meeting, the president made a point of tamping down expectations. "I don't want to fool anybody," he said, "we still have to work through some real differences."
The Treasury Department says the government will run out of available tools to pay its bills as of Aug. 2. The White House set July 22 as the target date for Congress to reach an agreement to avoid default.
