Debt talks to speed up, taxes still a hurdle (credit card maxed, need more loot)

Yahoo ^ | 6/10/11 | Andy Sullivan and Deborah Charles

[Libloather]

Debt talks to speed up, taxes still a hurdle
By Andy Sullivan and Deborah Charles – 2 hrs 10 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Top lawmakers aiming to reach a deficit-reduction deal agreed on Thursday to step up the pace of their talks with a series of meetings next week but said they still disagreed over the need to raise taxes.

Vice President Joe Biden and six leading Democratic and Republican lawmakers have now met a half-dozen times as they try to work out their differences and reach a deal to reduce trillion dollar budget deficits.

Thursday's Capitol Hill meeting took place amid growing pressure at home and abroad for an agreement that would let Congress raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling before an August 2 deadline, when the Treasury Department has warned it will run out of money to pay the nation's bills.

So far, bond markets remain placid, reflecting investor expectations that a deal will come before August. But Wall Street has stepped up warnings that the picture could change as the deadline draws near and some lawmakers talk of forcing a brief default on debt to secure deeper spending cuts.

[Libloather]

Vice President Joe Biden...

Like that's supposed to help?

[familyop]

"...and some lawmakers talk of forcing a brief default on debt to secure deeper spending cuts."

But being the bipartisan liberals that they are, they don't mention the other consequence of default.

[The Iceman Cometh]

I look into my cynical, crystal ball and see the Republicans accepting a debt limit increase with promised spending reductions 10 years out that will never happen. They are THAT predictable.