McConnell Says 'Real Deal' Not Possible With Obama
by COREY BOLES
July 12, 2011
WASHINGTON—A "real solution" to U.S. fiscal problems isn't possible as long as President Barack Obama remains in office, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday, heightening the rhetoric surrounding the debt-ceiling debate.
Mr. McConnell, the Senate's top Republican, and House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio), both blamed President Obama for the stalemate in the debt-ceiling and deficit-reduction talks, and urged the White House to break the impasse. Negotiations were to resume for a third-straight day Tuesday afternoon.
Mr. McConnell said he had gone into negotiations in good faith over how to formulate a deficit-reduction package to accompany an increase in the statutory borrowing limit. The Treasury has said the limit must be raised by Aug. 2 to avoid the potential of a U.S. default on its debts, while Mr. Obama has said he wants a deal by July 22.
Messrs. McConnell and Boehner said it was the White House's responsibility to ensure policy makers are able to raise the deadline. "This debt-limit increase is his problem," Mr. Boehner said. "The President talks a good game, but when it comes time to actually putting these issues on the table, making decisions, they can't quite pull the trigger," Mr. Boehner said.
Mr. McConnell said he concluded after the latest negotiations that the administration had "expressed a fundamental unwillingness" to agree to significant spending cuts.
"But after years of discussions and months of negotiations, I have little question that as long as this president is in the Oval Office, a real solution is unattainable," Mr. McConnell said in a Senate floor speech...
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