With rhetoric hardening and tempers flaring, the possibility for a broad deal on cutting the country’s deficit began to appear less likely, with some lawmakers calling for the focus to turn to a more short-term solution.
Obama said Boehner would not return his phone calls early yesterday.
“I’ve been left at the altar now a couple of times,’’ Obama said, although he avoided directly criticizing the House speaker.
He had no such hesitancy when he spoke of other members of the GOP.
“One of the questions the Republican Party is going to have to ask itself is, ‘Can they say yes to anything?’ ’’ said the president, who has been seeking to mix revenue increases with spending cuts in a $3 trillion deal to cut the growth of the nation’s deficit over the next decade.
House Republicans have vowed to vote down any deal with tax increases.
“Dealing with the White House is like dealing with a bowl of Jell-O,’’ Boehner retorted at his press conference on Capitol Hill.
In a letter sent out earlier to House lawmakers, he blamed Obama for the deterioration of the talks, saying that the president insisted on including tax increases.
“It became evident that the White House is simply not serious about ending the spending binge that is destroying jobs and endangering our children’s future,’’ Boehner wrote. “A deal was never reached and was never really close.’’
“In the end, we couldn’t connect,’’ he added. “Not because of different personalities, but because of different visions for our country.’’
It was the second time Boehner had left talks with the White House, but the leaders appeared close to a comprehensive deal on spending that would be tied to a vote to raise the limit on the nation’s ability to borrow more money. The Treasury Department says that without a vote of Congress the government will begin defaulting on some of its obligations starting on Aug. 3.
Portions of the deal Obama and Boehner were negotiating had faced fierce opposition from liberal Democrats, who worried about steep cuts in cherished social programs.
