News - National
Boehner hopes to have outline of plan soon
Posted: Jul 24, 2011 1:52 PM by AP Posted by James H Egbert
Updated: Jul 24, 2011 1:53 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) - House Speaker John Boehner is working on a plan to prevent the first government default in U.S. history. He hopes to have at least a framework of a deal ready this afternoon.
Boehner says if Democrats don't go along, Republicans will act alone. The government will run out of money to pay its bills unless the debt cap is raised by Aug. 2.
The speaker flatly rejects the White House insistence that the plan get the country through the next election instead of offering a short-term fix while a longer-term solution can be worked out. He says it's "not physically possible to do all of this in one step."
White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley told NBC the president will veto any last-minute debt package from Congress unless it extends the nation's borrowing limit into 2013.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says despite all the rhetoric, he's confident a deal will be reached.
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