White House, GOP lawmakers looking at 'grand bargain' on spending WASHINGTON - President Obama visited Capitol Hill on Wednesday to push his "grand bargain" to create middle-class jobs, while the real action went on behind the scenes as negotiations continued on a bipartisan budget deal to avoid a government shutdown this fall. Obama was treated to an early birthday cake and hefty applause by House Democrats, and a similarly friendly reception by Democratic allies in the Senate, as he pitched his campaign-style message of tax reform and infrastructure investment to them in private meetings. The president was eager to remind lawmakers, as they head out after this week for their August recess, that much work remains to improve the economy and repair the federal budget. When Congress returns to work, it will be in session just nine days before the Sept. 30 deadline to pass legislation to fund the government. "We shouldn't invent crises, and go from crisis to crisis," said Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.) as he emerged from a lunchtime meeting with the president. That effectively was his message. Democrats and some Republicans are eager to reopen budget talks. They are concerned that the steep annual cuts agreed to this year as part of the so-called sequester are damaging the economy. Continuing the estimated $100-billion cuts in the new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, would eliminate an estimated 900,000 jobs and chisel away at economic growth, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. To prevent this outcome, eight Republican senators have been meeting with White House officials, led by Chief of Staff Denis McDonough. The group, which also met Wednesday, is revisiting the possibility of a "grand bargain" - a mixture of budget cuts and new revenue - a goal that has eluded Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) during two years of budget talks. We all agree sequester's bad. How do we fix it?" asked Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who is involved in the talks. How to solve this problem is not a mystery; it's having the will to solve it. The sequester cuts, which began March 1, are across-the-board reductions that were triggered automatically after Congress and the White House were unable to agree on a more strategic way to cut spending or raise revenue. The end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30 sets up a new deadline to spur the two sides to tackle budget cuts, but they remain far apart on a compromise. Once again, lawmakers could be headed toward a possible showdown that could shut down the government this fall. The House, which has a Republican majority, has approved a series of appropriations bills that cut spending but boosted defense accounts and put the burden of the reductions on other domestic programs. The Democratic majority in the Senate wants to slightly increase overall spending. The president opposes the House's lower spending levels and the sequester cuts, White House senior advisor Dan Pfeiffer said Wednesday. There's not currently anything from the House other than things the president cannot sign. So unless they change their trajectory, they're pushing us toward a shutdown," Pfeiffer told reporters at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. Pfeiffer stopped short of vowing the president would veto any bill that continues current spending levels. To complicate the discussions, some conservative Republicans see the coming showdown as an opportunity to block the nation's healthcare law. "This is our last, best chance," said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a leader of the effort, during a floor speech this week. Other Republicans, including Sen. John McCain of Arizona, have derided that effort as unrealistic. One resolution would be a compromise that cuts money elsewhere while adding new tax revenue. Republicans have proposed trimming Medicare for the next generation of seniors, as well as the cost-of-living adjustment for recipients of Social Security and other government programs. But Democrats and the White House are willing to consider such cuts only if Republicans also agree to new tax revenue, which could come from changing the corporate tax code and doing away from some individual tax deductions for wealthier households. "What we're trying to do is come up with enough ideas that we can actually, hopefully, address sequestration but also get to the kind of big deal that gets us through," said Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), who is involved in the Senate effort, which he calls a "sounding board" for broader discussions. With the tight schedule once lawmakers return from recess, the two sides are likely to devise a stop-gap measure to prevent a government shutdown on Sept. "We're going to have ample time to deal with the fiscal issues that are staring us right in the face," Boehner said Wednesday. It may be a messy process, but I suspect we'll find a way to get there.