The Point: The President Said "No."
Email from Mitch McConnell's office:
A note from our office...
Just wanted to get you up to speed on the debt talks. There is a lot of conflicting and confusing information this morning but here are the facts from the weekend: The Senate Majority Leader, Speaker Boehner, and Leader McConnell worked through the weekend on a bipartisan product that would lift the debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts exceeding the increase that would last into next year. It would be a two-step process that would rely on a joint committee of Congress to produce, and the House and Senate to pass, further savings in order to lift the debt ceiling for the remainder of 2012. All Leaders agreed on the framework and last night the Senate Majority Leader and Leader Pelosi presented the plan to the President. The President said no. Two news excerpts below:
AS THE WASHINGTON POST REPORTED THIS MORNING:
“Less than two hours later, Reid carried the plan to the White House, where it appeared to meet with the president’s disapproval. Afterward, a White House official said the president “received an update on the state of negotiations on the Hill from Leader Pelosi and Leader Reid, and the Leaders and the president reiterated our opposition to a short-term debt limit increase.” But a Republican aide close to the talks said Boehner, Reid and McConnell “all agreed on the general framework of a two-part plan.” When Reid took the bipartisan plan to the White House, the aide said, “the president said no.” (“Debt-limit compromise elusive as separate strategies take shape in House, Senate,” Washington Post, 07/25/11)
President Rejected Debt Deal
By Jamie Dupree WSB/AJC July 25, 2011
President Obama last night rejected a bipartisan deal offered to him by Congressional leaders of both parties which would have provided for a short-term extension of the debt limit in order to avoid a U.S. Government default.
The agreement involved Speaker Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Reid and Senate GOP Leader McConnell - in fact, staffers from Reid and McConnell's offices were working on the legislative language together on Sunday.
But when Reid took the bipartisan/bicameral plan down to the White House, it was rejected by the President.
"The Speaker, Sen. Reid and Sen. McConnell all agreed on the general framework of a two-part plan," a senior Republican aide on Capitol Hill told me, which jibed with details offered up this morning by a GOP lawmaker as well.
The bipartisan offer sounded much like what Republicans have been trying to sell in recent days - a short term extension of the debt limit of about $1 trillion into next year, and then the creation of a special committee to wring out even more budget savings later.
"Sen. Reid took the bipartisan plan to the White House and the President said no," the aide said.
In public, Reid has trashed the idea of a short-term extension, as has the White House, which this morning trumpeted old quotes from Republicans in Congress where they blast the idea of a short-term deal.
"Speaker Boehner's plan, no matter how he tries to dress it up, is simply a short-term plan," Reid messaged last night on Twitter, adding, "it is a non-starter in the Senate."
We should learn the details of the House Republican plan later this afternoon; it was unclear when Democrats would release details of their plan, which reportedly would not include any new tax increases.
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