John Boehner Leaves Debt Ceiling Talks With Obama

WASHINGTON (AP/The Huffington Post) -- House Speaker John Boehner has broken off talks with President Barack Obama on getting a budget deal to avert a government default.

The Ohio Republican says the president wants to raise taxes too high and won't make "fundamental changes" to benefit programs such as Medicare.

President Obama, speaking at a press conference at the White House, told reporters that Boehner would not return his phone calls. "I've been left at the altar now a couple of times," Obama said.

"It is hard to understand why Speaker Boehner would walk away from this kind of deal," Obama said. "Can they say yes to anything?"

Obama called on congressional leaders to attend a meeting at the White House at 11 a.m. Saturday morning.

"We have run out of time and they are going to have to explain to me how we're going to avoid a default."

"I expect them to have an answer in terms of how they intend to get this thing done in the course of the next week. The American people expect action," Obama said. Story continues below

Top GOP aides say Boehner will now work with Senate leaders on an alternative aimed at averting a market-rattling, first-ever federal default.

HuffPost's Sam Stein, Ryan Grim, and Jennifer Bendery report on why the talks fell apart:

Where the two sides remained apart were on Medicaid cuts, with Republicans demanding tens of billions of dollars more in cuts than the president was comfortable making. White House officials described that difference as possible to overcome, however.

The revenue component, in the end, remained unbridgeable. According to senior White House officials, each side had agreed to pass tax reform down the road that would result in $800 billion in revenue generated -- the equivalent amount of savings that would be achieved if the top-end Bush tax cuts were simply allowed to expire. The administration wanted $400 billion in revenues on top of that. Republicans wanted zero, and in statements on Friday night GOP leadership aides insisted that the White House had changed the contours of the negotiations by making that demand in recent days.

Obama offered to move off that $400 billion mark should GOP leadership lessen the type of cuts to entitlement programs they were demanding, White House aides said.
In addition, the two sides could not figure out what to do if that aspirational tax reform package wasn't achieved.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/22/john-boehner-debt-ceiling_n_907452.html

Boehner probably needed a stiff drink, I 'm guessing Jack Daniels, ya know McConnell backer booze.

7am gonna come early for Boehner and Co. Gues they'll have to make it a short night.
I'm tired of this broken system