President Barack Obama told CBS News’ Scott Pelley Tuesday that he cannot guarantee that Social Security checks will go out as planned if Democrats and Republicans fail to reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling by August 2. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
“I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3 if we haven’t resolved this issue, because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it,” Obama said in an interview scheduled to air on the CBS Evening News Tuesday evening.
“This is not just a matter of Social Security checks,” Obama said. “These are veterans checks, these are folks on disability and their checks. There are about 70 million checks that go out.”
Obama has been pushing for $4 trillion in a 10-year deficit reduction proposal. But House Speaker John Boehner, after seeking to forge a deal of that magnitude, told the president that a smaller, $2 trillion to $2.4 trillion deal was more realistic. A deal is essential to win Republican votes to increase the nation’s debt ceiling by Aug. 2, or risk a government default.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that Republicans will “do the responsible thing and ensure the government doesn’t default on its obligations,” but said Democrats and the Obama administration were relying on budget gimmicks to give the “appearance of serious belt-tightening.”
His comments underscored the seemingly inflexible bargaining positions that have created an impasse between Obama and GOP lawmakers as they struggle for agreement on budget cuts as the price for maintaining the government’s ability to borrow.
McConnell’s remarks represent an escalation for Republicans, who had earlier acknowledged that bipartisan negotiations led by Vice President Joe Biden had managed to identify up to $2 trillion in spending reductions. Details of those cuts, however, were still being worked out.
McConnell accused the administration of leaking its proposals for spending cuts to the media without details.
“The lack of detail concealed the fact that the savings they were supposedly willing to support were at best smoke and mirrors,” the Kentucky Republican said..
Democratic officials familiar with Obama’s private talks with leaders of the House and Senate insist that Congress will not let the government go into default for the first time in American history — and that Republicans, ultimately, would vote to raise the debt limit even if a deficit-cutting package does not come together over the next two weeks.
Republicans say they won’t allow a default, but that a major reduction in spending must come as part of the package — and therefore both sides remain in a stalemate on the debt limit.
After a Monday White House meeting among Obama and top congressional leaders, neither side showed any give that might generate hopes for a speedy agreement. Instead, Republicans again took a firm stand against revenue increases while Obama and his Democratic allies insisted that they be part of any equation that cuts programs like Medicare.
“I do not see a path to a deal if they don’t budge, period,” Obama said on Monday.
At the same time, the president turned up the pressure by announcing he won’t sign any short-term debt limit increases.
“We are going to get this done,” Obama insisted during a news conference.
