–House Speaker: Still Differ W/Admin On Tax Hikes, Entitlement Reforms
–Need ‘Bipartisan’ Vote To Hike Debt Ceiling
–‘Very Sincere And Honest Negotiations’ With Admin

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) – Minutes before returning to budget talks with
President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner said Monday that
congressional Republicans and the White House continue to differ on the
need to increase revenues and the extent of entitlement reforms that are
required for a strong deficit reduction agreement.

In comments to reporters before heading to the White House for
another round of budget talks, Boehner said the talks between President
Obama and congressional Republican leaders have been “very sincere and
honest negotiations.”

He said the two sides differ on central “policy” issues: whether
revenues should be part of a deficit reduction plan and the scale and
scope of entitlement reforms that are needed.

“They are not there yet,” Boehner said, referring to the White
House’s position on these two issues.

Boehner said Republicans are insisting that revenues not be part of
the final deficit reduction package and are demanding serious entitlement
reform.

The Speaker said a “balanced” agreement involves Congress
increasing the debt ceiling in exchange for substantial spending
savings.

Boehner said passing a debt ceiling increase will require
Democratic and Republican votes.

In recent weeks, Obama and Boehner discussed a $4 trillion deficit
reduction deal over about a decade, but rank and file Democrats spoke
out against securing savings from Medicare and Social Security while
rank and file Republicans insisted that additional revenues be taken
off the table.

Boehner said Monday that he never agreed to additional revenues in
his informal discussions with the president.

The U.S. has already reached its $14.29 trillion debt ceiling.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has said for many weeks that Congress
must pass legislation increasing the debt ceiling by August 2.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **

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