Obama, Boehner at war over debt talk collapse

House Speaker John Boehner walked away from negotiations Friday, complaining that Mr. Obama would not agree to Republican demands that the deal not include any tax increases. Shortly after Boehner made his decision public, Mr. Obama, appearing frustrated, appeared before reporters to explain what had been on the table and hammer Boehner for walking away from an "extraordinarily fair deal."

The deal on the table, as Mr. Obama laid it out, included more than $1 trillion in cuts to domestic and defense discretionary spending, as well as $650 billion in cuts to entitlement programs - Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. He said he asked for approximately $1.2 trillion in revenue increases that he said would have come from eliminating loopholes and deductions and engaging in broad tax reform, not hiking tax rates.

President Barack Obama makes a statement in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, Friday, July 22, 2011 on the break down of debt ceiling talks.

/ AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

The deal, he said, called for less in tax increases than the deal worked out by the bipartisan "Gang of Six" negotiators, while including as much in discretionary savings. He said if the deal was unbalanced, "it was unbalanced in the direction of not enough revenue."

"It is hard to understand why Speaker Boehner would walk away from this kind of deal and frankly, if you look at the commentary out there, there are a lot of Republicans that are puzzled as to why it couldn't get done," Mr. Obama said. "In fact, there are a lot of Republican voters out there who are puzzled as to why it couldn't get done."

Appearing after Mr. Obama spoke, Boehner suggested the president "moved the goalposts" during discussions. He said there had been a closed-door agreement to increase revenues $800 billion through tax reform, but that Mr. Obama then insisted on an additional $400 billion in tax increases over 10 years. 

Asked how the deal could break down over $40 billion per year over 10 years, Boehner said the tax increases would have been on "the very people that we expect to invest in our economy and create jobs" -- presumably high-earners.  

"I can tell that you [House Majority Leader Eric] Cantor and I were very disappointed in this call for higher revenue," Boehner said. "Secondly, they refuse to get serious about cutting spending and making the tough choices that are facing our country on entitlement reform. That's the bottom line. I take the same oath of office as the president of the United States. I've got the same responsibilities as the president of the United States. And I think that's for both of us to do what's in the best interest of our country. And I can tell you that it's not in the best interest of our country to raise taxes during this difficult economy and it is not in the best interest of our country to ignore the serious spending challenges that we face."

CBS

Mr. Obama at one point suggested he "couldn't get a phone call returned" from Boehner earlier in the day, and said that when it comes to a deal, "I've been left at the altar now a couple of times." (A senior White House official later said the deal Mr. Obama was still on the table.) He said he was unable to guarantee that Social Security checks and other obligations would go out after the August 2 deadline, and said the blame falls on House Republicans who have been unwilling to compromise to get a deal done.

Mr. Obama said he was calling Congressional leaders to the White House Saturday morning at 11 a.m. "to explain to me how we are going to avoid default," acknowledging that discussions were basically back to square one. 

"What this came down to is there doesn't seem to be a capacity for them to say yes," Mr. Obama said.

"I think the challenge really has to do with the seeming inability, particularly in the House of Representatives, to arrive at any kind of position that compromises any of their ideological preferences," he said. "None. And you've heard it. I'm not making this up. I think there are a number of members of that caucus that have been very clear about that."

Asked what he would say to calm skittish markets, Mr. Obama said, "I remain confident that we will get an extension of the debt limit and we will not default," but he was less confident that the GOP will step up and deal with underlying debt and deficits "in a way that is fair." He said he would be willing to sign a debt limit increase that did not include deficit reduction measures if presented such a bill by Congress. 

"I think it's very important that the leadership understands that Wall Street will be opening on Monday and we'd better have some answers during the course of the next several days," Mr. Obama said.

Boehner also said he was "convinced" there would be no default.  He said "absolutely not" when asked if he was pressured to walk away from the deal by his caucus.

"I gave the president's proposal serious consideration," he said. "Let's understand something. There was an agreement with the White House of $800 million in revenue. The president walked away from his agreement and demanded more money at the last minute."

CBSNews.com special report: America's debt battle

The president earlier acknowledged that the Democratic leadership in Congress had not signed off on the proposed deal. He said, however, that both he and the leadership "were willing to engage in serious negotiations despite a lot of heat from a lot of interest groups around the country in order to make sure that we actually dealt with this problem."

Rumors of proposed cuts to entitlements had angered many Democrats and interest groups, and in announcing that he had offered $650 million in cuts on that front over 10 years, Mr. Obama said, "We believed that it was possible to shape those in a way that preserved the integrity of the system, made them available for the next generation and did not affect current beneficiaries in an adverse way."

"I was willing to try to persuade Democratic leadership as well as Democratic members of Congress that even a deal that is not as balanced as I think it should be, is better than no deal at all," he said. "And I was willing to persuade Democrats that getting a handle on debt and deficit reduction is important to Democrats just as much as it's important to Republicans. And, frankly, a lot of Democrats were persuaded by that."

The president and House speaker have been seeking a "grand bargain" of around $4 trillion in deficit reduction, but have faced stiff resistance from lawmakers in both parties. House Republicans say they will not accept revenue increases in the deal, while Democrats say any deal must include revenue increases as well as spending cuts.

Despite rumors of a deal in recent days -- the alleged contours of which fueled anger from lawmakers -- Boehner said in a letter to colleagues before Mr. Obama spoke that  "a deal was never reached, and was never really close." 

Toward the end of his remarks, Mr. Obama grew particularly animated when he suggested that lawmakers were putting what "some funder says or what some talk radio host says or what some columnist says or what pledge we signed back when we were trying to run" ahead of the concerns of the American people. He called that attitude "inexcusable."

"You know, at some point I think if you -- if you want to be a leader, then you've got to lead," he said before leaving the podium.

15 Photos

War of words over the debt

[bll011]

Corporations are looking forward to health care so they can drop coverage for more people. Business considers health insurance a hinderance. The health insurance argument is false too. The alternative what? The what is to let people die?

[jk324106]

"Greedy republicans?".... More like ******* democrats... I don't side with either party because I don't believe in taking just one side on any issue. I take my own side (the logical side). Democrats seem to be dumb-*****, which i guess is why your the donkeys... The higher income people already pay the majority of taxes, why should they have to pay for the governments greediness. The deficit is from corrupt politicians and these idiots in office that don't know what there doing. The government just keeps spending and spending and than expect us to pay for it. If they want to create a tax, they should make it for politicians only.... I would agree to all politicians paying 50-75% of their salary until the deficit is under control because its their damn fault. Republicans understand that you can't just keep raising the debt ceiling without severe cuts. Unless they get big corporations to back the government, cuts have to be made.... Obama has the audacity to tell congress he will veto any policy that isn't his own and than trys to address the american people saying that it's republicans fault. Our nation faces 3 big issues right now. First one is are unemployment as that affects the people the most directly. The second is our debt which is definitely not helping with the economy or unemployment. Our third problem is Obama as president. He just keeps spending, and than blaming those before him. He needs to take responsibility for his actions and step down. He took a bad situation and made it 10x worse. If you support Obama, do the US a favor and don't vote in the 2012 election.

[hankbarks]

The government must pay its bills. This is settled law. Congress must right new law to reduce spending. The debt ceiling can't halt the USA from paying the bills that Congress passed. The debt ceiling is bogus and Politians know it that is why it has always been increased.

[carolc305]

ELIMINATE ALL SO CALLED FREE TRADE ACTS NO DEFICIT BEFORE THEM, OR AS REPUBLICAN SENATORS AS THE ONES FROM ALABAMA, AND TENESEE ,SAID IN FRONT OF NATIONAL T.V. WHEN AUTO INDUSTRY WAS IN TROUBLE THEY SAID THE WORKERS ARE OVERPAID AND THE WAGES WERE THE PROBLEM SEEMS LIKE OUR GOVT IS IN EXACTLY SAME POSITION I DID NOT SEE THE REPUBLICANS ESPECIALLY THE PUBLICITY SHY, HA SENATORS FROM ALA, AND TENN, CALLING FOR 50% CUTS IN THEIR PAY TO HELP THE GOVT BECOME FISCALLY SOUND, ILL BET THEY WERE ONE OF THE FIRST ONES TO VOTE FOR A RAISE FOR THEM WHEN THAT LAST VOTE TOOK PLACE, HOW COME WHAT IS GOOD FOR 1 INDUSTRY CANT BE GOOD FOR OUR DEFICIT,COME ON REPUBLICANS WHATS UP WITH THAT???

[Demoserver]

How does the nation go about getting an idiot who is speaker of the house out of there! He is the cause along with the other idiots in the Republican party that are causing our nation to be at a standstill. Congratulations to being so detrimental to millions. Why don't you grow up and stop being the bullies that you are.

[harv823]

Sure the Republicans have a plan. The plan has always been to make the rich richer, give the corporations even more tax breaks and to take the money for this from the middle class.

[slappy_mcjohnson]

by miamivic2 July 23, 2011 5:19 PM EDT
The Republicans already have a plan. The Democrats in the Senate are sitting on it.

-----

Not a realistic one, and they knew it. Nothing but posturing, wasting our time and money, and holding America hostage by not being willing to compromise.

Of course, all they would have to do is stop giving welfare to individuals, foreign countries, and ESPECIALLY private corporations.

.

[Naparyaq]

This isn't about the business of running our country. This is the business of political pandering strategies in play. Congress, do your job.

[Nab72]

Obama loves to talk about the Clinton surplus. If there was a surplus it was a Republican surplus because both houses of Congress were controlled by the Republicans. More accurately though there was no surplus because the National debt increased every year, even though it was closer to real balance. The only reason a surplus was reported is because the money taken from Social Security is not counted toward the deficit each year. When Obama threatened that Social security checks would not go out last week he should have explained that there is no actual money in Social Security because both parties have been stealing it for over 20 years to hide their real spending. What has been done is as if you spent all the money you have in the bank and replaced it with IOU's promising to pay it back. If you don't have the money the IOU's are worthless.

[weebeecrafty]

I speak for many when I say our disability check IS our only income. To take that away is to put my family on the street. My children, husband & I have no other source of income. What are so many of us to do that have paid into the system but now we get cut off but yet the rich get richer & the poor definitely get poorer!

[marcia1954]

Are you kidding? What evil spirit has blinded you and those who agree with you? Did someone miss President Bush the previous administration for 8 years? I hope you are very, very, rich, because if these greedy republicans are not stopped, America as we know it will end. All they care about is their wealth and not being taxed. That is the battle today. Their only stumblingblock is President Obama, who was requring them to pay taxes and their rich businesses that are overseas. Their one requirement is not to tax the very wealthy. He as of today refuses to agree. They say either he let them get by without paying their share of taxes or America will fall in default, because they now have the power. You can get self-righteous, but at the end of this matter, america as we know it will end if the republicans have their way. This is not the first time they blackmailed the President and used the well being of this country to evade taxes. They are doing it again and whoever put these republicans in a controlling position tell their wives, husbands and children why they must do without or must move. Tell them, that you voted for the republicans who despise them and took all that was theirs by refusing to sign a bill unless they had no obligations to the country they are part of. Then see how foolish you really are. THE WEALTHY REPUBLICANS ARE ALREADY LAUGHING AS THE SEE AMERICANS BUYING THE GARBAGE THEY ARE SELLING. IDIOTS IS THE UNSPOKEN WORD. They are watching america attack the only one who is truly trying to protect and help them. President Obama. We don't have any money because the wealthy aren't paying any. They are sending it to china, japan, india, and europe, leaving their home country without worthy funds and most borrow from those said countries. Wouldn't if of been right if our american companies would have to pay america for their presence in our country and taxes go to american families. They don't, and they will sell america to not have to. The battle continues.

[En-Raged]

It may be time to give "Bummer" and "Boner" fiddles and let them play during the economic fires to come.

It is time that we as voters make sure that any candidate whose name has the word "incumbent" next to it remain unchecked on the next ballot.

It is also time that we as Americans buy those items which are made by Americans. For if you dont pay that price then ready yourself to be China's *****.

[efells]

I could not agree more with your comment. I don't care what party you voted for last election. We elect these people to govern. What did they really do to address the health care crisis? The total failure to govern in this fiscal crisis is plain out appalling. It is time to vote the rascals out.