Talks On Debt Ceiling Break Down Over Obama's Demand For New Taxes

Speaker John Boehner ended talks with President Obama today on a 'grand bargain' to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts and tax and entitlement reform.

The deal they were working on would have cut spending by up to $3.5 trillion over the next 10 years and increased tax revenues by $800 billion, and reportedly Cantor and Boehner were prepared to accept that as a compromise.

The talks broke down when President Obama demanded an additional $400 billion in tax increases.

Boehner sent a letter to the House Republicans explaining his decision to pull out of the talks:

"It has become evident that the White House is not serious about ending the spending binge that is destroying jobs and endangering our children's future," he wrote, adding, "A deal was never reached, and was never really close.

"The president is emphatic that taxes have to be raised. ... The president is emphatic that we cannot make fundamental changes to our entitlement programs," Boehner wrote.

"For these reasons, I have decided to end discussions with the White House and begin conversations with the leaders in the Senate in an effort to find a path forward."

Apparently President Obama threw a tantrum as well during the meeting.Right after President Obama's press conference today, in which he claimed the Republicans 'don't have the capacity to listen', the press secretary for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Brad Dayspring, tweeted:

"As if there's really a question whether President Obama threw a tantrum at the White House last week - same guy just appeared."

This is kabuki theater by President Obama in my view.At this point, he either wants one of two things; either the debt ceiling raised with no concessions on his part so it looks like a political victory for him or a government shutdown, during which he'll deliberately refuse to prioritize so those Social Security checks, military paychecks and Medicare payments don't go out and he can blame the 'obstructionist' Republicans.

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