US debt ceiling deal talks – live

Obama and Republicans are locked in talks over a deal to raise the US debt ceiling. Follow the twists and turns here live 11.41am: The debt ceiling seems to not be at the front of the minds of the people asking questions at the town hall. Next question: “Hi, my name is Steve, I’m a doctoral student here.” Obama responds: “What are you studying?” “Political rhetoric,” says Steve. “Uh-oh,” says Obama, “How am I doing?” 11.35am: Next questioner begins by asking Obama, “Obviously you’ve had a successful presidency…” Obama cuts in: “That’s not obvious to everyone.” The question is, what mistakes have you made? Obama replies that he would have been more aggressive on the economy in the first year: I could have told the American people more clearly how tough this was going to be, how tough and long lasting this recession was going to be. But the president has to project confidence and optimism, he says, and the banking sector was in serious trouble – suggesting that he had to talk it up. Over the first two years I was so foccused on policy, getting the policy right, that I forgot part of my job was explaining to the American people why that policy was a good thing. 11.26am: Obama now taking questions from the audience – and one from a man suggesting using the 14th amendment (allowing presidential powers) and waiting until the next election so that Americans have the chance to vote out “these hooligans in the House”. Obama replies saying that the debt ceiling needs to be raised now to avoid the possibility of a default, so he doesn’t have the luxury of letting that happen. “It is not an option for us to default. My challenge then is to get something passed.” On the 14th amendment, Obama says “I’ve talked to my lawyers” and they say invoking the 14th amendment here is not an option. That could change, of course. “There are going to be a certain set of equities that we are not going to be prepared to sacrifice,” says Obama, leaving a slight hint that there are circumstances in which he does hit the nuclear option of the 14th. 11.21am: Obama says he’s willing to sign up to a deal that makes heavy cuts in domestic and military spending – and reels off some statistics (the lowest level of domestic spending since the Eisenhower administration, and so on) to prove it. But he says that politicians in both parties aren’t happy. Obama is off on a well-polished riff about the problems of politics in Washington, tapping into the desire for a deal that recent opinion polls reveal. “Americans voted for a divided government. They didn’t vote for a dysfunctional government,” is one of his lines that is a ong-time favourite of his speech-writers. 11.15am: Before describing the debt ceiling debate as “a crisis manufactured in Washington,” Obama says that both parties are to blame for the size of the federal budget deficit: But both parties have a responsibility to solve it. If we don’t solve it every American will suffer. 11.10am: Obama now speaking at College Park – home of the University of Maryland and indeed a very large Ikea – and goes straight into discussing the debt ceiling and the state of the US economy: This is actually a debate about you and the people of America and the challenges we face. He says that his “number one concern” is the state of the economy. “It’s the first thing I think about when I get up in the morning ands the last thing I think about at night.” 11am: Welcome to live coverage of the non-stop negotiations over the US debt ceiling going on in Washington DC. So far there’s a lot of hot air – and that’s not just the incredibly humid twmperatures above 40C that the city is experiencing. But there are signs of a deal emerging. The New York Times reports today: Congressional and administration officials said that the two men, who had abandoned earlier talks toward a deal when leaks provoked Republicans’ protests, were closing in on a package calling for as much as $3 trillion in savings from substantial spending cuts and future revenue produced by a tax code overhaul. But can they sell it to their respective parties? It’s not looking good so far. Coming up, President Obama is about to speak to a town hall meeting in College Park, Maryland, where he is expected to address the debt ceiling talks and the state of the economy. US economy Obama administration US Congress Republicans US politics United States Economics Richard Adams guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 22, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.