Obama walks out on tense debt talks, but leaves with a warning

The president abruptly leaves a meeting, reportedly warning that Americans won't be happy if both sides keep posturing and benefit checks and other bills aren't paid.

  

President Obama abruptly left debt negotiations with congressional leaders Wednesday at the White House when a top Republican said there was no longer time to engage in the large-scale deficit reduction discussions the White House is now seeking as part of a vote to raise the nation's debt ceiling.

The flare-up came at the end of the nearly two-hour session during which House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told the president that Congress should instead consider a series of debt ceiling votes based on spending cuts that already have been identified. Talks could then continue to identify additional cuts for subsequent votes, he said.

Republicans have refused Democrats' call for taxes on the wealthy. The president responded by ending the meeting, sources said.

"I suggested we were so far apart I didn't see in the time before us how we get to where he wants us to be," Cantor told reporters after the meeting.

Obama warned Cantor not to set such an ultimatum, and according to congressional and administration aides repeated his vow to veto legislation that would extend the debt ceiling only for a short period.

"The president told me, 'Eric, don't call my bluff. I'm going to take this to the American people,' " Cantor said.

Aides described it as the tensest meeting yet in the months of discussions, with the president at one point accusing both sides of posturing.

Democratic officials, however, denied reports that Obama had "walked out" of the meeting. "Left abruptly is perfectly fair," one official said. "But the meeting was over — in no sense did he walk out on it."

Toward the end of the meeting, before he left, Obama said: "This process is confirming what the American people think is the worst about Washington: that everyone is more interested in posturing, political position and protecting their base than solving real problems," according to a second Democratic official familiar with the talks. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the nature of the discussions.