“He said to me, ‘Eric, don’t call my bluff. I’m going to the American people with this,’ “ Cantor said. “I was somewhat taken aback…”
Russell Berman and Sam Youngman
The Hill
7/13/2011
Republicans said tense negotiations over raising the $14.3 trillion debt limit at the White House ended when President Obama stormed out of the meeting with a stern warning to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.): “Don’t call my bluff.”
“It ended with the president abruptly walking out of the meeting,” Cantor told reporters upon returning to the Capitol Wednesday.
Democrats immediately disputed the GOP account, saying Obama had sought to end a meeting when Cantor interrupted him to get a final word. “No. Absolutely not,” Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told The Hill in a brief interview when asked about Cantor’s description.
A Democratic source familiar with the negotiations said the reports of a dramatic or abrupt walk-out by Obama were overblown, but the source acknowledged that the president “said what he was going to say, he got up and walked out.”…
…A GOP aide said it was “the most tense meeting of the week.”
The aide said that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) challenged Obama to offer real spending cuts and to stop using budget gimmicks.
“We’re not doing that anymore,” Boehner said, according to the aide…
The complete article is at The Hill.
Related:
When it comes to the debt talks, Obama is no Bill Clinton
Gohmert to Boehner: Quit believing Obama scare tactics and do your own research :
…Take a look at this chart from Goldman Sachs, which was posted by James Pethokoukis at his Reuters blog:
Clearly, the federal government does have the revenue on hand to service debt, fund the military, and make Social Security and Medicare payments. What is at risk if the debt ceiling isn’t raised are things like the Department of Education, cowboy poetry, and – oh I don’t know – Obamacare, to name just a few things the federal government could slash immediately without doing much harm at all. If Obama elects to prioritize stuff like that over Social Security checks and leave senior citizens flapping in the breeze, that’s his prerogative…
Chaffetz: McConnell debt ceiling plan is a ridiculously stupid idea!
Gallup: Plurality Trust GOP Leaders To Handle Deficit And Debt Limit…
Allen West on Obama: Real leaders don’t use intimidation and scare tactics
Update: Call his freaking bluff!
Prima Donna Obama. PC Press Miffed
Eric Cantor gets the Bibi Netanyahu treatment
Bachmann: Obama’s Suggestion U.S. Would Default ‘Simply Not True’
White House Wunderkind Has Bad Day, Throws Hissy Fit
Levin to Obama: Where are your spending cuts? Who do you think you are, Mussolini?
Off-topic, but related and equally childish: No Yelling At Obama Today, Capice?
