Debt deal not close, Senator Reid says

Related Topics

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) speaks during a joint news conference with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)(L) and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) (R) on the Republican Filibuster of Reid's debt plan on Capitol Hill in Washington July 29, 2011. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) speaks during a joint news conference with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)(L) and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) (R) on the Republican Filibuster of Reid's debt plan on Capitol Hill in Washington July 29, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Yuri Gripas

WASHINGTON | Sat Jul 30, 2011 6:45pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans and Democrats are not close to a deal to raise the debt ceiling despite what Republican leaders may say, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said on Saturday.

"It's fair to say that the engagement there is not in any meaningful way," Reid said on the Senate floor shortly after returning from a meeting with President Barack Obama. "Republican leaders still refuse to negotiate in good faith."

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Anthony Boadle)
Politics
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (10)
showmerancher wrote:
This is a failure of Presidential leadership on an extraordinary, unprecedented scale. When Obama said that he would “change how Washington operates”, I somehow didn’t envision that he would, or even could make it worse; but he has. This is an astounding embarrassment and display of inept leadership to the world that by itself will affect the light in which America’s credibility is viewed.

Obama’s bizarre leadership style is for the Commander-in-Chief to threaten to withhold the paychecks of his own military who have or are putting their lives on the line on battlefields across the world? That is totally irrational! This crisis of leadership has become a matter of national security; we may or may not end up being able to put our trust of “full faith and credit in the United States”, but may never be able to trust the leadership of Obama whose drumbeat of intimidation continues to breed fear, loathing and contempt not seen since just prior to the civil war.

He must step down from office.

Jul 30, 2011 6:51pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
PCScipio wrote:
@showmerancher: Oh please don’t find any fault with the intransigent Republicans, particularly the Tea Party freshmen in the House. It’s all Obama’s fault! You really need to try thinking outside the Fox.

Jul 30, 2011 7:12pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
Bebe99 wrote:
Think outside the fox. That’s a keeper. Unfortunately the fox-Americans have been trained for years to only think in the most knee jerk partisan ways. So when

Jul 30, 2011 7:32pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.
See All Comments »