Free Republic

As of an hour ago, Jay Carney had confirmed for the White House press corps that Obama would indeed agree to a short-term hike even if the GOP didn’t end the shutdown and NRO was reporting that more than 150 House Republicans seemed onboard with Paul Ryan’s strategy. The government had taken its first tentative step towards resolving the fiscal standoff; the Dow closed up 300 points on the day because of the news. All was right with the financial world — so much so that this was the front page of CNN.com at around 6:15 p.m. ET, before the...

WASHINGTON — President Obama and House Republicans failed to reach agreement on a six-week extension of the nation’s borrowing authority during a meeting Thursday at the White House, but both sides agreed to keep talking and the Republican offer was seen as a first step toward ending the budget standoff. Twenty Republicans, led by Speaker John A. Boehner, went to the White House at Mr. Obama’s invitation after a day of fine-tuning their offer to increase the Treasury Department’s authority to borrow money to pay existing obligations through Nov. 22. In exchange, they sought the president’s commitment to negotiate a...

S&P futures are now over 15 points off the day's highs, as it seems equity investors were hoping for a Cumbaya moment after the White House meeting today. However, as Bloomberg reports, •*BOEHNER LEAVES OBAMA MEETING WITHOUT SPEAKING TO REPORTERS •*REPUBLICANS LEAVE WHITE HOUSE WITHOUT MAKING STATEMENT •*OBAMA REJECTS REPUBLICAN PROPOSAL FOR SHORT-TERM PLAN: NYT It would seem that Obama's "unconditional surrender or default" position has merely placed the pressure to act back on Boehner's shoulders.

President Barack Obama rejected the GOP’s short-term debt limit plan because it does not also end the partial government shutdown, the New York Times reports. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) reportedly left Thursday’s meeting at the White House with Obama without issuing a public comment to the press. Even though House Republicans softened their long-standing demands, Obama’s rejection isn’t entirely a shock given that Senate Democrats had already declared it unacceptable on Thursday. “Not going to happen,” declared Majority Leader Harry Reid, standing outside the White House after he and fellow Democrats met with President Barack Obama. Reid referred to...