Obama rejects short-term debt deal, urges compromise

Townhall Staff

Jul 11, 2011 2:10 PM Jul 11, 2011

Opinion

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama ruled out any possibility of signing a short-term extension of the federal debt ceiling Monday, insisting that the time has come to tackle the nation's most pressing fiscal problems in a comprehensive way requiring bipartisan compromise on both taxes and spending.

The president continued his push for the largest deal possible -- an apparent rejection of a proposal put forward over the weekend by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to put aside thorny questions tied to taxes and entitlement reform and instead focus on $2.4 trillion in cuts previously agreed to in an earlier round of negotiations.