Speaker John Boehner said President Barack Obama must accept entitlement cuts and no tax increases in order to obtain a debt-ceiling increase from Congress, once again taking a hardline as GOP and Democratic congressional leaders head to the White House for talks on averting a U.S. debt default.
– John Boehner stuck to his guns in a press conference today, offering precious little hope that a debt ceiling deal was anywhere close to getting done. He thanked Barack Obama for praising his "good-faith effort," but said it mattered little. “Our disagreements are not personal,” he said, according to Politico. “They never have been. The gulf between the two parties now is about policy.” “This boil downs to two things: The president insists on raising taxes, and they’re just not serious enough [about] fundamental entitlement reform,” Boehner said. “It takes two to tango, and they’re just not there yet.” Boehner said he did fundamentally agree that the debt limit needed to rise, the AP reports. But he said the bill could only pass the House if it included an even larger amount of spending cuts.