Some Republican congressional leaders, meanwhile, said President Obama is being unreasonable by asking them to pass tax increases when the economy is so fragile.
“It’s not a revenue problem, it’s a spending problem, and everyone understands that point,’’ Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, said on “Fox News Sunday.’’
Both the Obama administration and Republican lawmakers said yesterday that they do not intend to put the country in default, but neither side outlined a plan that is considered likely to pass.
There were no formal meetings at the White House over the weekend, but talks continued behind the scenes on Capitol Hill on multiple possible solutions.
Democrats continued pushing what the White House has called a “grand bargain,’’ which would cut spending by some $4 trillion over the next 10 years but also eliminate subsidies for oil and gas companies and tax breaks for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans that were passed under President George W. Bush and extended last year by Congress and Obama.
That deal also would include changes to entitlement programs like Medicare. Although the White House has declined to detail those changes publicly, the president said Friday that they could include raising the eligibility age and increasing the amount that wealthier seniors pay for health care.
Republicans so far have dismissed any plan that includes tax increases. Yesterday, Senator Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican who is minority whip and has been involved in negotiations with the White House, said Obama needs to “get off of his absolute obsession with raising taxes.’’
“Republicans are not going to agree to do anything that will harm our economy and job-killing taxes will harm our economy,’’ Kyl said on “This Week.’’
