John Boehner’s update on talks with the White House, provided by his office after the Speaker had a phone conversation with the president tonight: “Despite good-faith efforts to find common ground, the White House will not pursue a bigger debt reduction agreement without tax hikes. I believe the best approach may be to focus on producing a smaller measure, based on the cuts identified in the Biden-led negotiations, that still meets our call for spending reforms and cuts greater than the amount of any debt limit increase.”◼ Boehner abandons efforts to reach comprehensive debt-reduction deal - Washington Post
Behind the scenes, according to those close to the negotiations, Boehner has been pushing the president for the better part of the year for a dramatic deal — one that would include entitlement and other reforms. That the White House would even discuss such a thing, of course, sent the Left wild when it hit the news this week...
How about this? Small deal for now and new president — with a House and maybe even Senate that will work with him — in 2012.
Ironically, it was Boehner who cajoled Obama into pushing for the big deal. His Saturday night announcement capped a whirlwind courtship between the two men, beginning with a casual round of golf at Andrews Air Force Base on June 18.◼ Is Obama getting ready to snooker Boehner on taxes? - Reuters
A series of secret meetings followed, culminating in a decision to push for a landmark debt-reduction deal. Both leaders believed that divided government — with Republicans in charge of the House and Democrats holding the Senate and the presidency — might provide an opportunity to demonstrate that bipartisan cooperation was still possible on a grand scale.
A deal to slice more than $4 trillion in borrowing over 10 years would be, by far, the largest debt-reduction package in at least two decades. The plan would have struck at all the major drivers of government spending, from Social Security and Medicare to the Pentagon.
The media accounts of the tax reform deal being cooked up by President Obama and House Speaker Boehner aren’t all that clear. But it is looking like a big tax increase◼ Boehner's Obama Gamble - A tax increase now for the promise of tax reform later won't fly. - Wall St. Journal
President Obama wants Congress to raise the $14.3 trillion national debt limit, which means he needs House Republican votes. Yet Mr. Obama and the Washington chorus are insisting that in return for doing him the favor of voting to raise that limit, Republicans must also do him another favor by raising taxes.◼ Boehner walks away from $1 trillion in tax increases; Update: WH “upped the ante on taxes,” backed off entitlement reform - HotAir
Tellingly, the White House rushed to assure people that the grand compromise wasn’t dead yet... The rapid response at the White House shows the weakness of Obama’s position.
