US House speaker quits debt talks

US House Speaker John Boehner

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/190340.html

US Republican House Speaker John Boehner has walked away from urgent talks with President Barack Obama over the country's debt.

"I have decided to end discussions with the White House and begin conversations with the leaders of the Senate in an effort to find a path forward," Boehner wrote to the Republican members of the House of Representatives, AFP reported.

Minutes later, Obama called on Republican and Democratic leaders to return to the negotiating table on Saturday, saying he wanted the politicians to explain to him “how we are going to avoid default" on the nation's debt.

The incumbent US president added that his former proposal was “extra-ordinarily fair” and would have included USD 650 billion of cuts to entitlement programs as he had been willing to take "a lot of heat" from his party.

The United States will default on its debt unless the US Congress raises the federal government's borrowing limit by August 2nd.

On Friday, the US Senate, which is controlled by the Democrats, rejected a cut, cap and balance bill passed by the Republican-led House.

The US debt ceiling is capped at USD 14.3 trillion, up from USD 10.6 trillion when President Obama took office in 2009; and the administration says that if it is not elevated by August 2, the government would default on its obligations.