McConnell Proposal Gives Obama Power to Increase Debt Limit

By JACKIE CALMES
NYT

The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said Tuesday that a bipartisan budget deal with President Obama was probably out of reach, and he proposed a plan under which the president could increase the federal debt limit without prior Congressional approval for offsetting spending cuts.

Mr. McConnell’s proposal reflected a growing sense of pessimism on Capitol Hill about the prospects that Mr. Obama and Congressional leaders could come to terms on a budget deal before the government’s borrowing authority hit its limit on Aug. 2. The negotiators sat down for another round of talks at the White House on Tuesday afternoon.

In an interview with CBS News, Mr. Obama said he “cannot guarantee” that the government can pay benefits next month to Social Security recipients, veterans and the disabled if Congress does not increase the federal debt limit, raising the political stakes even as Republicans hardened their opposition to him.

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