Obama Pushes for Debt Compromise

WASHINGTON-President Barack Obama on Saturday prodded congressional leaders to compromise as aspect of efforts to slash the country's deficit and reiterated that ending tax breaks for the wealthy need to be component of any main deal.

President Obama, in his weekly radio address to the nation, said both political parties share blame for the country's latest fiscal woes and "both have talked this predicament to death without executing enough about it."

He continued, "That's what drives folks nuts about Washington. Too frequently, it's a place significantly more concerned with playing politics and serving particular interests than resolving actual issues or focusing on what you're facing in your personal lives."

President Obama is locked in an increasingly consequential battle with congressional Republicans about how to slash the country's deficit and raise the nation's borrowing limit. The haggling has stretched for quite a few months and reached a high point this week as two ratings firms suggested they could downgrade U.S. debt.

Both sides are jockeying for public viewpoint, with President Obama saying in a press conference Friday that Americans will keep in mind who was noticed as prepared to compromise and wasn't "locked into ideologically rigid positions" throughout this debate.

President Obama has mentioned any main deal to slash the country's deficit -something in the variety of about $4 trillion-must incorporate revenues. Republicans have rejected that approach, saying raising taxes throughout an economic recovery will hamper growth.

In their weekly radio deal with to the nation, the Republican Celebration pressed Mr. Obama to support a constitutional amendment that would limit long term investing. President Obama has rejected such an strategy, saying Friday "We don't need a constitutional amendment to do that what we need to have to do is to do our jobs."

Giving the radio tackle for the GOP, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R., Utah, mentioned "The only purpose this administration doesn't want a constitutional amendment is because they want to hold investing the American people's income."

He also criticized the president's strategy to taxes. "The solution to a investing crisis is not tax increases. Nevertheless Washington has consistently demonstrated that it can't handle its urge to devote," Mr. Hatch stated.

The two sides have till Aug. 2 to agree to raise the U.S. borrowing limit. Aug. two is when the Treasury Department says the government will run out of cash to meet all of its obligations if the country's borrowing limit isn't elevated.

Congressional leaders and President Obama are anticipated to reconvene, probably more than the weekend, to go over plan for raising the debt ceiling.

President Barack Obama suggested Friday he would sign a deficit-reduction deal that may include only spending cuts, effectively relinquishing what was to be a centerpiece of the message in his re-election campaign.

Mr. Obama's suggestion-he opened the door to signing such a deal, but didn't explicitly say he would-marks a step back from the sweeping plan he has been pushing to include tax reform, entitlement cuts and other spending reductions.

His top political advisers have long wanted such a deal, saying it would allow Mr. Obama to enter the 2012 election season with a defense against Republican efforts to labe