Obama Calls For Compromise: ‘Time For Putting Party First Is Over’

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As Congress and the country lurch toward an August 2nd deadline for defaulting on its debt, President Obama issued an urgent plea for party leaders to put aside their differences and forge a compromise to raise the nation’s borrowing limits and rescue the country from the brink of economic calamity.

“The time for putting party first is over and the time for compromise on behalf of the American people is now,” Obama said in a mid-morning address Friday. “For for all the intrigue and drama taking place on Capitol Hill, I’m confident that cooler heads will prevail.”

Obama thanked Americans who responded to his Monday night call for action with an outpouring of calls and emails to Capitol Hill urging compromise, and asked for voters to keep the pressure on lawmakers.

“Keep it up. If you want to see a bipartisan compromise, let your Members of Congress know. Make a phone call, send an e-mail, tweet. Keep the pressure on Washington and we can get past this.”

The President’s message comes while Republicans are regrouping from an internal party meltdown on vivid display when House GOP leaders Thursday night were forced to delay a vote scheduled on Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) debt proposal because too many Republicans were refusing to vote in favor of the plan because they believed it did not go far enough in cutting spending.

The Boehner bill would employ a two-step process, immediately raising the debt ceiling by $900 billion while making $917 billion in cuts over the course of ten years while putting off further increases in the debt ceiling and cost savings for several months.

Democrats argue that the delay would only produce yet another debtmageddon redux during the important holiday buying season, which would only rattle the economy even more. Even it House Republicans manage to find the votes to pass the Boehner bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has declared it dead on arrival in the Senate and in the absence of the bill has said he would move forward with a Senate Democratic alternative by the end of Friday.

Despite the drama, the President and Democrats argue that both the Reid and Boehner plans are fundamentally very similar. Both proposals do not include any revenues or tax increases and would produce roughly $1 trillion over the next decade with a plan for $1.5 trillion more in cuts hashed out by a bipartisan debt committee.

“This is not a situation where the two parties are miles apart…,” Obama said in his brief address Friday. “We’re in rough agreement.”

The compromise, Obama said, should focus on an enforcement mechanism, or trigger, that would trigger severe repercussions for both parties if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling in the months ahead.

Behind-the-scenes negotiations this week have focused on the possibility of imposing severe across-the-board spending cuts in domestic and defense programs and even possibly tax increases, if Congress fails to find the savings. The trigger would include a little something for everyone to resist and would, at least in theory, create enough incentive for Congress to find a solution.

Obama said he would support some kind of enforcement mechanism, if “it is does in a smart way.”

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