(Image Source: The New York Times)

 

BY: ALLIE SPILLYARDS

Months in the making and here it comes again.
The United States is set to hit its debt ceiling on August 2nd-- meaning Congress has just days to reach a compromise.
Monday-- President Obama took to the quote- “bully pulpit." And his message was clear-- the GOP must compromise.

OBAMA: “Now is the time to deal with these issues. If not now, when?”

Some are calling him “dad-in-chief” after the strongly-worded presser. The Washington Post’s The Fix blog explains.

“He flat-out rejected the idea of a short-term deal — 30, 60, 90 or even 180 days — on the debt ceiling by noting that ‘this is the United States of America, and we don’t manage our affairs in three-month increments.' (Hard not to hear parental echoes in that line; ‘That’s not the way we do things in this house...')”

But Obama wasn’t the only one speaking out. Republican House Speaker John Boehner countered -- holding his own press conference -- just a few hours later.

BOEHNER: “The last thing we should be doing right now at a time of 9.2 percent unemployment is enacting more government policies that will destroy jobs."

Just days ago, Boehner and Obama agreed to go for the “big deal” outlined by democrats. Last minute-- he withdrew support. But perhaps this wasn’t unexpected. A blogger for ABC suggests...

“Cynics might also say that Obama knew House Speaker John Boehner would walk away from the proposal to raise taxes on higher-income Americans and, therefore, knew Boehner and company would never call his bluff."

NBC’s Kristen Welker says -- It’s all about give and take.

“The President was offering to put Social Security and Medicare on the table in exchange for increasing tax revenue. But Saturday night, Speaker Boehner pulled the plug on the deal. GOP sources say house Republicans won’t go for tax hikes. Boehner is now calling for a package about half the size." 

So will they do it? Can the two sides come to an agreement? Political commentator Pat Buchanan says-- don’t bet on it.

“The political reality is John Boehner has walked away from the table. You’re not going to get any revenue increases out of the Republican House. Boehner is not going to commit suicide trying to do it." 

But a writer for the Financial Post emphasizes the importance of compromise.

“If talks drag on but are still close and lawmakers look set to raise the debt ceiling within a few days, a temporary reprieve may be possible... But the grace period would not be long... a failure to find a solution would raise serious red flags with China and other major creditors."

According to NPR, meetings will now be held every day until the White House’s deadline of July 22.
 

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Transcript by Newsy.