Obama, Boehner trade barbs
Yet hints of compromise begin to emerge as U.S. default draws closer
WASHINGTON U.S. President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner traded heated rhetoric yet also showed signs of compromise Tuesday, a frustratingly inconclusive combination that left an eight-day partial government shutdown firmly in place and the threat of an unprecedented national debt default drawing closer.
Stocks fell significantly — the Dow Jones Average by 159 points — as political gridlock endured.
And, in the latest in a string of dire warnings, the International Monetary Fund said failure to raise America’s debt limit could lead to default and disrupt worldwide financial markets, raise interest rates and push the U.S economy back into recession.
Even the deaths of U.S. servicemen over the weekend in Afghanistan were grist for the politicians.
The Pentagon said that because of the partial shutdown it was unable to pay the customary death benefits to the survivors. Boehner said Congress had passed legislation last week permitting the payments, adding it was “disgraceful” for the administration to say otherwise.
In Congress, a plan by Senate Democrats to raise the debt limit by $1 trillion to stave off a possible default drew little evidence of support from Republicans.
And a proposal by the House Republicans to create a working group of 20 lawmakers to tackle deficit issues drew a veto threat from the White House, the latest in a string of them as the administration insists the GOP reopen the government and avert default before any negotiations on deficit reduction or the three-yearold health care law can take place.
Republicans “don’t get to demand ransom in exchange for doing their jobs,” Obama said at the White House.
“They don’t also get to say, you know, ‘ unless you give me what the voters rejected in the last election, I’m going to cause a recession.’ ”
On a day in which both Obama and Boehner appeared on live television, both men appeared to be giving ground yet yielding little if anything of substance.
At mid-morning, Boehner and other Republicans seemed to soften their demands.
“I suspect we can work out a mechanism to raise the debt ceiling while a negotiation is underway,” said Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican who is close to Boehner.
The speaker, who had previously insisted on specific changes in the health care law as the price for preventing the shutdown, told reporters: “I want to have a conversation (with Obama and the Democrats.) I’m not drawing any lines in the sand. It’s time for us to just sit down and resolve our differences.”
Asked if he was willing to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government for a short period, the Ohio Republican sidestepped.
“I’m not going to get into a whole lot of speculation,” he said.
A few hours later, Obama told a news conference he was willing to negotiate with Republicans on budget and other issues if Congress passed even short-term legislation to end the crisis.
“I’ll even spring for dinner again,” he said, referring to his courtship of Republican senators last winter, and attempting to inject humour into a political impasse where invective has been the norm.
Ninety minutes later, Boehner was unsmiling.
“What the president said today was, if there’s unconditional surrender by Republicans, he’ll sit down and talk,” he said.
Renewing his call for “a conversation” about key issues facing the country, the Ohio Republican said, “Not next week. Not next month. The conversation ought to start today.”
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has said the deadline for Congress to act is Oct. 17, setting that as the day the government will exhaust its ability to borrow funds and will have to rely day-to-day on tax and other receipts to pay its bills.
Some Republicans have downplayed the significance of the Oct. 17 deadline, saying that even then, the United States would be able to pay China and other holders of U.S. debt and avoid widespread economic dislocation.
But Obama said they were badly misguided, warning that default would harm the economy, cause retirement accounts to shrivel and houses to lose value.
Still other Republicans have made it clear in recent days they agree with the threat posed by the default and are determined to prevent it.