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US Budget Talks to Continue as Possible Shutdown Looms

   VOA News  April 06, 2011
   President Barack Obama talks about the budget at the White House in
   Washington, April 5, 2011

Photo: AP

   President Barack Obama talks about the budget at the White House in
   Washington, April 5, 2011

   U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to summon top congressional
   leaders back to the White House Wednesday for a second day of talks on
   reaching a 2011 budget agreement.
   The president met with House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority
   Leader Harry Reid for about 90 minutes Tuesday. Afterward, he told
   reporters it would be "inexcusable" if Republicans and Democrats fail
   to achieve a compromise on their budget demands. Failure to agree on a
   budget by the end of the week could trigger a government shutdown.
   After the White House meeting, Boehner and Reid met again, privately,
   at the U.S. Capitol to try to craft a plan that could win enough votes
   to be approved by Congress.
   The U.S. government has been operating with a series of stopgap funding
   measures since October.
   If no deal is reached this week, government agencies will run out of
   funding after Friday, and many services deemed non-essential would be
   halted starting Saturday.
   Obama said he is opposed to another stopgap spending extension, unless
   the lawmakers had reached essential agreement and needed a very short
   time to finish passage of the budget.
   The president said an agreement is needed to avoid jeopardizing the
   country's economic recovery. Republicans say they do not want a
   shutdown, but that sharp spending cuts must be enacted to help cut the
   government's deficit.
   The White House and congressional leaders have been trying to cut at
   least $33 billion from the $1trillion-plus discretionary part of the
   U.S. government's budget.
   But Tea Party supporters among the Republican majority in the House of
   Representatives have been seeking broader cuts. Boehner said Republican
   negotiators would continue to "fight for the largest [spending] cuts
   possible."

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