Pressure Increases on Senate Dems for Debt Deal
Published May 18, 2011 | FoxNews.com
"I'm giving it a rest, because we're at an impasse. We have to accomplish certain things if we're going to get a deal, and we're just not where we can meet the demands of what I think we have to have to fix our problems."
-- Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., talking to FOX News colleague Trish Turner about the Gang of Six.
The halt to the high-stakes bipartisan debt talks by the Senate Gang of Six may be the key to moving forward on President Obama’s request to increase the government’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling.
With Sen. Tom Coburn leaving the table over an impasse surrounding Medicare, Senate Democrats can no longer hold out hope for a grand bipartisan bargain before Aug. 4, when a partial government shutdown would commence.
As long as the Gang was at work, Senate Democrats could be excused for stalling saying that they hoped for a big deal to solve the problem in the long term.
Now, President Obama, Majority Leader Harry Reid and the rest of the Senate Democratic caucus must begin in earnest the unhappy work of putting together a small-bore deal to win the support of 60 Senators – including at least seven Republicans.
