CBS NEWS: John Boehner walks away from debt talks

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John Boehner walks away from debt talks

By Brian Montopoli
Updated 6:05 p.m. Eastern Time
House Speaker John Boehner has walked away from negotiations with President Obama over a deal to raise the debt limit.“In the end, we couldn’t connect. Not because of different personalities, but because of different visions for our country,” Boehner said in a letter to colleagues. He said Mr. Obama ” is emphatic that taxes have to be raised” and “adamant that we cannot make fundamental changes to our entitlement programs.””For these reasons, I have decided to end discussions with the White House and begin conversations with the leaders of the Senate in an effort to find a path forward,” he said.House Republican leadership aides told CBS News that Boehner will work with the Senate leadership in an attempt to reach a deal that meets the GOP’s two central requirements: That spending cuts are equal to or greater than debt limit increase and that there are no new taxes.Without action, the debt limit will be breached on August 2 – 11 days from now –
potentially plunging the U.S. economy into chaos. Continue reading