CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
June 10, 2011 – 9:56 p.m.
Negotiators Tone Down Rhetoric As Debt Limit Talks Pick Up
By Brian Friel, CQ Staff
Debt limit negotiators are stepping up their pace this week, perhaps sensing that the stage is set for significant progress.
House and Senate leaders now appear to be giving themselves and their representatives in the talks a little more running room to reach a deal well ahead of the Aug. 2 deadline, set by the Obama administration, to increase the debt limit.
Participants in the talks led by Vice President
Republicans repeatedly have ruled out revenue increases as part of a debt limit deal. But last week, Senate Minority Leader
After the Biden group met last week, House Majority Leader
Senate Minority Whip
Kyl said the $2.4 trillion in budget savings that Republicans demand in return for increasing the debt limit by that amount could be realized over a period of 10 years or longer. Other Republicans have called for sharp front-end spending cuts certain to be non-starters with Democrats.
For their part, Democrats offered to put together a package of changes in Medicare to rein in growing costs while preserving the current structure of the program.
Senate Majority Leader
The debt limit negotiators are scheduled to convene on three consecutive days this week, beginning with a session Tuesday, after meeting only once during the past two weeks.
By itself, toned-down rhetoric will not bridge the considerable differences between the two sides. The negotiators have spoken optimistically about their ability to find perhaps $1 trillion in spending cuts, but going beyond that will require delicate negotiating regarding entitlement programs, particularly Medicare. House Republicans want to save money by restructuring the program for future beneficiaries.
“There are a lot of ways to save money in Medicare,” Kyl said, citing everything from structural changes to getting rid of fraud and abuse.
Negotiators Tone Down Rhetoric As Debt Limit Talks Pick Up
With leaders in both parties signaling there may be room for compromise, the White House has done the same. The administration threw out the possibility last week of rolling back payroll taxes paid by employers as a way to stimulate the economy.
Although the goal of Speaker