Contours of a possible deal emerge amid closed-door talks

In a sign that a deal may be in the making, President Barack Obama and top lawmakers postponed a meeting at the White House on Monday to give lawmakers more time to craft an agreement to reopen the government and avoid a potentially catastrophic default.

The Oval Office talks had initially been set for 3 p.m. But at 2:40 p.m. the White House announced that the confab was delayed indefinitely “to allow leaders in the Senate time to continue making important progress towards a solution that raises the debt limit and reopens the government.” It was not clear whether the meeting would take place later Monday.

Earlier, the president made a photo-op visit to a local food bank, and said the talks aimed to capitalize on what he called “progress” in the Senate toward an 11^th-hour breakthrough.

“We'll see this afternoon whether this progress is real,” Obama told reporters, standing in front of a table piled with bologna sandwiches. “And you know, my hope is that a spirit of cooperation will move us forward over the next few hours.”

The postponed meeting was to include Republican House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Vice President Joe Biden was also due to attend.

The U.S. Treasury says the government will hit its debt ceiling Thursday, running out of the authority to borrow money to pay for existing programs and risking a debt default that experts warn will send shock waves through the fragile global economy.

“Not only is it untenable for us to continue this shutdown — this week if we don't start making some real progress both in the House and the Senate, and if Republicans aren't willing to set aside some of their partisan concerns in order to do what's right for the country, we stand a good chance of defaulting,” Obama warned. “And defaulting would have a potentially devastating effect on our economy, sending interest rates shooting up, [and] people — whether Social Security recipients or people with disabilities or small-business people who are vendors to government — not getting paid on time.”

“We've already had a damaging effect on our economy because of the shutdown,” the president added. “That damage would be greatly magnified if we don't make sure that the government's paying its bills, and that has to be decided this week.”

Reid and McConnell have been working behind the scenes to cobble together a deal. A bipartisan group of 12 senators has been doing the same. Ultimately, though, the question is: How will the House GOP respond, with time already running short?

"We're getting closer," Reid told reporters after he met privately with McConnell.

The Republican leader agreed: "We’ve had an opportunity to have some constructive exchanges of views on how to move forward. I share his optimism — we will get a result that will be acceptable to both sides."

Several other lawmakers have sounded optimistic notes about getting a deal done quickly. A Democratic Senate aide described the deal as comprising a debt-ceiling hike that would last until February 2014, enough money to keep government open until January, with a commitment for all sides to launch comprehensive negotiations on the nation's finances by Dec. 15. A senior Republican Senate aide said the chamber's GOP members would huddle at 5:45 p.m. to discuss the possible deal, but cautioned that its contents were still being hammered out.

“I think we'll solve this problem over the next few days. I think today may be a very good day,” Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told MSNBC’s "Morning Joe."

But Obama said he would keep pushing Congress “until the details are done.”

And the president appeared to refer to public opinion polls that have shown Republicans bearing the brunt of the blame for a shutdown that their tea party-affiliated rank and file triggered by demanding that the president accept some rolling back of his signature health care law, Obamacare.

“There's been some progress on the Senate side, with Republicans recognizing it's not tenable, it's not smart, it's not good for the American people to let America default,” he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-to-host-top-lawmakers-as-default-looms-160042194.html
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