Changing Tone, Obama Pressures Both Parties on Budget Deal
President Obama challenged Republicans on Monday to live up to their demands to cut the nation’s deficit and address its long-term debt by enacting spending cuts, revenue increases and changes to entitlement programs.
“Now is the time to deal with these issues,” Mr. Obama said at the start of a news conference at the White House. “If not now, when?”
The president also called on Congressional Democrats to be open to a deal that would makes changes to entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, which some parts of the caucus have strictly opposed.
Mr. Obama said he was continuing to push lawmakers for “as large a deal as possible” and said that Republicans should work toward the goal that they have said they wanted for months.
“I’ve been hearing from my Republican friends for quite some time that it is a moral imperative to tackle our debt and our deficit,” Mr. Obama said. “What I’ve said to them is, ‘let’s go.’”
Mr. Obama said he would not consider a short-term, stop-gap solution to raise the debt ceiling. “This is the United States of America. We don’t manage our affairs in three-month increments.”
The news conference, his second in less than two weeks, came just hours before the president was to meet for a third time with Congressional leaders in an effort to reach a deal to raise the nation’s debt ceiling. The decision to take questions from reporters again reflects a new approach to press relations in recent months, as the president seeks to use the bully pulpit in a way that Republicans cannot.
Mr. Obama’s tone was a stark contrast to his previous press conference. In late June, Mr. Obama adopted a stern approach toward his Republican rivals, wagging his finger at them for failing to lead and mocking their frequent summertime breaks.
But on Monday, after a series of face-to-face negotiations over the past week, the president described the Congressional leadership in more sympathetic ways. He called them “sincere” and said they were in a “difficult” position as they try to sell a compromise to their rank-and-file members.
“Part of what the Republican caucus generally needs to recognize is that American democracy works when people listen to each other — we’re willing to give each other the benefit of the doubt, we assume the patriotism and good intentions of the other side, and we’re willing to make some sensible compromises to solve big problems,” Mr. Obama said. “And I think that there are members of that caucus who haven’t fully arrived at that realization yet.”
The president’s tone about his Democratic allies changed as well. Mr. Obama appeared eager to demonstrate that the difficulties House Speaker John A. Boehner is having with conservatives was matched by Mr. Obama’s willingness to talk tough to his own liberal constituency.
Politically, that gives Mr. Obama an opportunity to present himself to independent voters as a leader who is interested in getting something done in gridlocked Washington. He said that while he was “sympathetic” to the concerns of his liberal supporters, their priorities could not be achieved without tackling the nation’s debt.
“If you’re a progressive who cares about the integrity of Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid and believes that it is part of what makes our country great, that we look after our seniors and we look after the most vulnerable, then we have an obligation to make sure that we make those changes that are required to make it sustainable over the long term,” he said.
House Speaker John A. Boehner responded in his own news conference Monday afternoon.
“I agree with the president that the national debt limit must be raised, and I’m glad that he made the case for it today. But the American people will not accept – and the House cannot pass – a bill that raises taxes on job creators.”
Answering questions, the president said he was eager to find a solution to the nation’s debt problem even if that meant that both parties had to accept changes they do not like.
“It’s not going to get easier. It’s going to get harder,” Mr. Obama said. “So we might as well do it now. Pull off the Band-Aid. Eat our peas. Now is the time to do it.”
He added that both parties need to “step up.”
“Let’s do it,” he said. “I’m prepared to do it. I’m prepared to take on significant heat from my party to get something done.”
Mr. Obama repeatedly praised Mr. Boehner for his willingness to consider a broader package to reduce the debt. But he said the political pressures on the House speaker were clearly affecting Mr. Boehner’s ability to cut a deal.
“The leaders in the room at a certain point have to step up and do the right thing regardless of the voices in our parties,” he said. “It’s going to take some work on his side. But look, it’s also going to take some work on our side to get this done.”
Mr. Obama rejected criticism by Republicans that his party was eager for “massive, job-killing tax increases” that would harm the economic recovery. He noted that any tax increases would not go into effect until after 2013.
“No one is talking about raising taxes right now,” the president said. “I have bent over backwards to work with the Republicans that comes up with a formulation that doesn’t require them to vote sometime in the next month to increase taxes.”
The president offered a critique of the political pressures in both parties that make it harder for lawmakers and the White House to reach a deal.
Of the Republican presidential candidates who have said they oppose an increase in the debt ceiling, the president said: “For them to say we shouldn’t be raising the debt ceiling is irresponsible. They know better.”
But he said the Tea Party movement had genuinely made it more difficult for Congressional leaders like Mr. Boehner to compromise.
“The politics that swept him into the speakership were good for a midterm election,” Mr. Obama said. “They are tough for governing.”
Mr. Boehner said over the weekend that he would no longer try to achieve a large-scale deal involving as much as $4.5 trillion in spending cuts along with broad-based tax reform and changes to entitlement programs. Instead, Republican lawmakers are pushing for a scaled-back plan.
But Mr. Obama on Monday continued to urge lawmakers to consider the larger approach. And he challenged Republicans to come back to the White House with a deal they think can pass in both chambers of Congress. That may be a challenge as both sides are far apart on the key components of a deal.
Conservative Republicans in the House, led by Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House majority leader, have balked at the notion of a deal that would increase revenue, fearing they could be accused of going back on their pledge to oppose tax increases.
Democrats, meanwhile, have expressed opposition to any deal negotiated by Mr. Obama that would cut benefits to Medicare or Social Security recipients.
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Sources: CNN, NY Times, Google Maps
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