President Barack Obama urged lawmakers to put aside the political rhetoric and reach a deal on raising the nation’s debt limit within two weeks during a press conference on Tuesday.
This was the second press conference the president gave in one week to address how the debt negotiations were going. Members in both parties have criticized President Obama for not being more involved, but with an Aug. 2 deadline looming for when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the United States would default on its loan obligations if the debt ceiling were not raised; however, in the past week Obama has gotten personally involved in the negotiations, has given press conferences about the progress of those talks and has laid out his vision for what should be included in the deal.
On Tuesday, he said he invited leaders from both parties and both chambers of Congress to meet with him on Thursday at the White House. He said it was important both parties could come together and reach a compromise not only to reduce the debt and deficit but also to help the economy now and in the future.
“I believe that right now we’ve got a unique opportunity to do something big, to tackle our deficit in a way that forces our government to live within its means, that puts our economy on a stronger footing for the future and still allows us to invest in that future,” Obama said. “It’s my hope that everybody’s going to leave their ultimatums at the doors, that we’ll all leave our political rhetoric at the door and that we’re going to do what’s best for our economy and do what’s best for our people.”
He again called for a balanced approach to reducing the debt and deficit – something he and Democrats have been calling for since the beginning of negotiations. He said that would mean both Democrats and Republicans would have to “get out of their comfort zones” on some of their sacred cows.
“We need to take on spending in domestic programs, in defense programs, in entitlement programs and we need to take on spending in the tax code,” he said. “Spending on certain tax breaks and deductions for the wealthiest Americans. This will require both parties to get out of their comfort zones.”
President Obama also said he did not want lawmakers to reach a short-term deal to raise the debt ceiling and then continue to procrastinate on fixing the problem in the long-term.
“I’ve heard reports that there may be some in Congress who want to do just enough to make sure that America avoids defaulting on our debt in the short term but then want to kick the can down the road when it comes to solving the larger problem of our deficit,” he said. “I don’t share that view.”
Despite all the differences, he said he was confident that a deal could be struck but did not hide the fact that it would be difficult.
“We’ve made progress, and I believe that greater progress is within sight,” Obama said. “But I don’t want to fool anybody, we still have to work through some real differences.”
The president said he wanted a deal struck within two weeks by July 22 so negotiators could draft legislation, get it scored by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office and put the measure to a vote by Aug. 2.
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