Congress divided on debt plans.
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Nurses and health care workers protest Monday outside U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire's office in Aliquippa, urging the congressman to preserve Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
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WASHINGTON -- The positions have softened, but the rhetoric has not.
House Republicans and Senate Democrats on Monday offered separate proposals to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion borrowing limit that did not appear to be substantively far apart, with a week remaining before government spending crashes into its legal ceiling next Tuesday.
But the interparty attacks continued, suggesting that a consensus solution remains elusive, as President Barack Obama told the nation in a evening prime-time address, "We are left with a stalemate."
The primary difference between the House and Senate plans is strategic: They both would increase the debt limit by about $2.7 trillion, with cuts to future deficits at least that large. But the plan from House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, would do that with two votes, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., would do it in one shot.
Mr. Obama has threatened to veto a short-term hike because it would mean another round of debt brinkmanship early next year. That would be bad politics as he faces re-election and, Democrats argue, bad for financial markets looking for some semblance of long-term fiscal strategy from Washington. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.7 percent Monday, losing 88.36 points for the day.
"This negotiating at the edge of a cliff -- it's not a healthy way of running a government," said Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair.
After talks between Mr. Boehner and Mr. Obama fell apart Friday amid finger-pointing and recrimination, Mr. Boehner and Mr. Reid talked through the weekend. They couldn't settle on a joint solution, so each man presented his own to their separate caucuses Monday.
Mr. Boehner said his plan was "built on the principles" of the "Cut, Cap and Balance" bill that passed the House last week, but was subsequently cast aside by the Senate. While immediately raising the debt ceiling by as much as $1 trillion, Mr. Boehner's plan imposes appropriations spending caps that would amount to $1.2 trillion of deficit savings over 10 years.
First Published July 26, 2011 12:00 am
