Obama doubtful about Mar 1 deal to head off cuts
His comments, made in an interview with radio talk show host Al Sharpton, suggested the White House was preparing for the possibility the March 1 deadline will pass with no deal.
That would set off a chain reaction of automatic spending cuts that if left unchecked over the next few months could lead to thousands of job furloughs.
Republican lawmakers who control the House of Representatives are solidly against Obama’s proposal to raise money for deficit reduction by eliminating tax loopholes.
Obama is insistent that any deal to avert the spending cuts must include ways to raise revenues so deep cuts in social programs are avoided.
“At this point, we continue to reach out to Republicans and say this is not going to be good for the economy, it’s not going to be good for ordinary people. But I don’t know if they’re going to move and that’s what we’re going to have to keep pushing over the next seven, eight days,” Obama told Sharpton.
Obama spoke by phone on Thursday to House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Washington, and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. “Whether or not we can move Republicans at this point to do the right thing is what we're still trying to gauge,” he told Sharpton.
If no deal is reached by March 1, and
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