Among Senate Democrats, there is still bitterness about the deal Vice President Biden negotiated in secret in December with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that extended all of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts, including those for the wealthy.
The T-word — “triangulation” — began to circulate across Capitol Hill as lawmakers recalled how President Bill Clinton distanced himself from his party’s liberal base and from conservatives as he positioned himself for a reelection run.
President Obama held a town hall where he spoke about the federal budget and deficit negotiations. (July 22)
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White House officials rejected the idea Thursday that they were abandoning their allies and said Obama was still seeking fresh tax revenue in a final deal.
“It is absolutely essential that any ‘grand bargain,’ if you will, any significantly sized deficit-reduction package be balanced; that it contain — that it address all the drivers of our long-term debt and our significant deficits,” White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters.
Pelosi, now the House minority leader, stayed largely silent ahead of the White House meeting, which was designed in part to ease nerves on the left. One of her top advisers suggested that it was still too soon to think the president would agree to such a proposal, given that the final deal is likely to need dozens of Democratic votes because so many House Republicans remain opposed to raising the debt ceiling under any circumstances.
“If they think they can do it with 218 Republicans, let's see it,” said Rep. Steve Israel (N.Y.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Republicans didn’t mind seeing a little open feuding on the other side of the aisle. Throughout July, the Capitol has been absorbed by a GOP soap opera as Boehner has privately jousted with his younger leadership lieutenants. In the Senate, allies of McConnell have made clear his concern that the speaker would pursue a deal that includes new tax revenue.
Exiting his own GOP luncheon Thursday, a smiling McConnell greeted reporters by confirming only that he “had lunch,” deflecting questions about the debt talks. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Va.), the most outspoken GOP critic of any broad deal, also found nothing to denounce.
“There are all kinds of options on the table,” he told reporters.
Among the Democrats, it was the senators who were most vocal in their criticism of a president who used to be one of them. Reid’s statement — unusual in its form, delivered at an impromptu setting just off the Senate floor minutes after Lew’s hasty exit — set the tone for how his caucus felt about any deal without tax increases of some form.
Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (N.J.) noted “a little separation” between Obama and his former Senate caucus. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) pleaded to return to negotiations over a Reid-McConnell plan that contained no tax increases and no entitlement cuts.
“This is a very sensitive time,” she said, trying not to directly criticize the White House.
Did she think the White House was working off the same page as her?
“No,” she replied.
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Staff writers Rosalind S. Helderman and Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report.
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