5:02 PM PT: CNN is reporting a slightly different spin, on this meeting. While agreeing it is tense, they say it had come to and end, and as the President stood up to leave, Eric Cantor proposed a series of smaller increments to keep these discussions going on endless.
Then the President sternly lectured the group before leaving. Not really "storming out," But, walking in a deliberate fashion.
The White House is briefing reportors now.
By JONATHAN ALLEN | 7/13/11 7:18 PM EDT Updated: 7/13/11 7:54 PM EDT
President Barack Obama abruptly walked out of a debt-limit meeting with congressional leaders Wednesday, rattling the already shaky negotiations, according to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and a second GOP source.
Cantor said the president became “agitated” and warned the Virginia Republican not to “call my bluff” when Cantor said he would consider a short-term debt-limit hike. The meeting “ended with the president abruptly walking out of the meeting,” Cantor told reporters in the Capitol. “I know why he lost his temper. He’s frustrated. We’re all frustrated.
Asked if they’d made progress in the latest negotiations, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer said “No.”
“The president is putting a lot of time and energy into getting an agreement, and it’s tough,” Hoyer said.
One Democratic aide said “the president spoke for several minutes uninterrupted about how he would not be deterred in doing what is best for the country” and then “dressed down” Cantor.
http://www.politico.com/...
5:10 PM PT: CNN provide additional details of WH briefings that are putting a slightly different spin. They say the meeting was already over, when Eric Cantor proposed a serious of numerous extension over the next year, that the President has already rejected.
The WH reports President Obama was frustrated and responded with a "lecture" saying something to the effect that 'This would concern what the American people already suspect, that the countries political leadership isn't deliberately committed to resolving this problem.' I use the half quotes to indicate this is not an exact quote, but my best attempt to paraphrase the approximate meaning while watching TV, and time has elapsed, and I was just distracted. Sorry, this is the best I can do real time.
5:55 PM PT: Some are concerned that the media is trying to make President Obama look like an angry black man, so they are objecting to the Obama "storms out of meeting," which I changed. But, I think they are missing something here. As if anger at GOP obstructionism would be a bad thing.
This is the best part of this story, folks.
If I were in the White House advising our president, where I should be, I'd say, Mr President, "call an impromptu Press Conference right now." And, I rec having the President watch Samual Jackson's "I'm sick and tired of the these mot&%^$$$$$ snakes on a plane" clip.
And, also that rightous heavy duty, biblical quote Jackson uses in Pulp Fiction before he blows away deadbeats with his 45. "Though I walk through the vally of death... etc.
Then President Obama should walk down that big hall in the WH for the waiting press, look right into the camera and say
"I'm sick and fu&^( >^ tired of these *%#((& damn obstructionist &^%$#$ Republicans didling with our countries credit rating, and the payments to soldiers, Social Security recipients, and the disabled in the this country."
If they don't knock off this silly shit and give me a clean debt-ceiling expansion they should be prepared to feel the wrath of the American people in 2)12!
And, then turn around and walk down that big Hall with large steps.
I guarentee his public approval rating will go up 20% by tomorrow.
6:27 PM PT: Pursuant to my recommendation that President Obama watch this video for inspiration, and mood setting, I post it here for those of you not familiar with the righteous rant genre.
7:34 PM PT: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers and the White House had what nearly every party is describing as a "tough" and "testy" meeting on the debt ceiling Wednesday afternoon, culminating in a stormy exchange between the president and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).
It was the fifth straight day of talks, but the first in which attendees, speaking on background, were willing to admit that steps were taken backwards. According to multiple sources, disagreements surfaced early, in the middle and at the end of the nearly two-hour talks. At issue was Cantor's repeated push to do a short-term resolution and Obama's insistence that he would not accept one.
"Eric don't call my bluff. I'm going to the American people on this," the president said, according to both Cantor and another attendee. "This process is confirming what the American people think is the worst about Washington: that everyone is more interested in posturing, political positioning, and protecting their base, than in resolving real problems."
Cantor, speaking to reporters after the meeting, said that the president "abruptly" walked off after offering his scolding.
“I know why he lost his temper. He’s frustrated. We’re all frustrated," the Virginia Republican said.
Democratic officials had a different interpretation. "The meeting ended with Cantor being dressed down while sitting in silence," one official said in an email. "[The president] said Cantor could not have it both ways of insisting on dollar-for-dollar and still not being open to revenues."
Lost in the rush to frame the dramatic conclusion of Wednesday meetings was word of the actual substance of the talks. According to several attendees, negotiations stalled from the onset over the same issues that have proved irresolvable. Working off of talks that had been spearheaded by Vice President Joseph Biden, the president said he would be comfortable signing off on northward of $1.5 trillion in discretionary spending and mandatory spending cuts. With additional negotiations, he added, he could move that figure up to $1.7 trillion, and with a willingness to consider revenue increases and tax loophole closures, he added, lawmakers could get to over $2 trillion. His preference, he said, was to continue to push for the biggest package possible, so long as it was balanced.
To which the president responded: "It is easy to get to a higher number when you are not asking anything difficult from yourself.
"
From there, the friction remained. When the White House pushed for an extension of unemployment insurance as part of the final package, Republicans objected. The White House was forced to explain that it would be off-setting that extension with cuts elsewhere. When the president pushed to lock in savings from cuts to the Department of Defense, Republicans objected again; this time, they were joined by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who urged (conversely) for the president to go further in pulling savings out of the Pentagon.
According to a Democratic official, the most contentious debate came when talks turned to discretionary spending, and, specifically, whether to count long-term savings based on current spending baselines or by tying them to inflation. Republicans wanted the former. It was, the official said, a debate over the "measurements of savings as opposed to the savings themselves."
Talks, from there, turned to how to enforce those savings in the long run. Those discussions, which took place between Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and top economic adviser Gene Sperling, were described as cordial compared to the earlier ones. But lawmakers quickly found themselves back on the same sticking point.
Unhappy that negotiators remained at $1.7 trillion-or-so in cuts, Cantor pressed again for a shorter deal or for negotiators to find their way to $2.5 trillion. The president, growing more agitated, argued that attendees where simply looking for ways to say no.
"I have reached the point where I say enough," Obama concluded, according to Reuters. "Would Ronald Reagan be sitting here? I've reached my limit. This may bring my presidency down, but I will not yield on this."