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Obama Urges Budget Compromise as Negotiations Continue

   Dan Robinson | The White House  April 06, 2011
   President Barack Obama

Photo: AP Photo/Matt Rourke

   President Barack Obama meets with people after making remarks at Gamesa
   Technology Corporation in Fairless Hills, Pa. , Wednesday, April 6,
   2011.

   As congressional leaders continue negotiations on Capitol Hill aimed at
   averting a government shutdown, President Obama stuck with
   previously-scheduled travel plans that took him to Pennsylvania and New
   York City. The president continues to urge compromise, but Republican
   leaders are standing firm on budget cut demands.
   The president visited a wind turbine manufacturing plant in a former
   steel manufacturing suburb of Philadelphia to re-emphasize the
   importance of clean energy policies to deal with rising oil and
   gasoline prices, create jobs and promote economic growth.
   Mr. Obama stopped at the Gamesa plant in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania
   when he was running for president in 2008.
   In this return visit, he appealed for support of clean energy proposals
   that include achieving a goal of 80 percent reliance on renewable and
   clean energy sources for electricity by the year 2035. "We have got to
   have a sustained energy policy, that is consistent, that recognizes
   that there is no magic formula to driving gas prices down, it is a
   steady improvement in terms of how we use energy and where we get
   energy from, that is what is going to make a difference, that is how we
   are going to secure our energy future," he said.
   However, most of the president's attention was on the budget battle
   back in Washington over government spending which, failing a
   congressional compromise, could trigger a federal government shutdown.
   Republican and Democratic leaders continued negotiations on spending
   cuts for the remainder of the current 2011 fiscal year, even as they do
   battle over longer-term steps to address the nation's fiscal crisis.
   President Obama spoke by phone with the Republican Speaker of the House
   of Representatives, John Boehner, and Democratic Senate Majority Leader
   Harry Reid.
   Reid spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday morning, assailing Republicans
   for changing their conditions for a compromise. "We long ago accepted
   the fact that the only way to reach a consensus between a Democratic
   Senate and a Republican House is to compromise. I wish I could say the
   same about those on the other side of the negotiating table," he said.
   The president used his remarks in Pennsylvania to increase pressure on
   Republicans, saying a government shutdown would create more uncertainty
   and negatively effect economic recovery. "I do not want to see
   Washington politics stand in the way of America's progress. At a time
   when you're struggling to pay your bills and meet your
   responsibilities, the least we can do is to meet our responsibilities
   to produce a budget. That's not too much to ask for," he said.
   But late Wednesday, the House of Representatives speaker, Republican
   John Boehner, accused the president of failing to exert leadership, and
   indicated Republicans will continue to press for levels of budget cuts
   they say Americans demand. "Our goal is real clear. We are going to
   fight for the largest spending cuts we can get, and the policy riders
   that were attached to them, because we believe that cutting spending
   will lead to a better environment for job creation," he said.
   Boehner confirmed that the Republican-controlled House will vote
   Thursday on a short-term bill, opposed by Democrats, that would cut
   current year spending by $12 billion, while funding Pentagon operations
   through the end of the year.
   Earlier, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said President Obama is
   monitoring negotiations, and would call lawmakers back to the White
   House for more talks if he thought it necessary to avert a government
   shutdown.
   That could happen late Wednesday, after the president returns from his
   visits to Pennsylvania and a brief stop in New York City, or on
   Thursday.

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