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BBC MUNDO RADIO
Wednesday, July 20th 2011, 4:00 AM
WASHINGTON - A first-ever breakthrough on the tortuous debt talks seemed possible Tuesday, judging by President Obama's suddenly more optimistic body language.
Obama went out of his way to hail a $4 trillion proposal unveiled by a bipartisan "Gang of Six" senators, calling it "a very significant step" that mirrors the balanced, pain-for-all approach he has pressed in negotiations to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling and curb runaway spending.
"The framework that they put forward is broadly consistent with the approach that I've urged," Obama told reporters, understating his satisfaction at the credibility the bipartisan proposal lent to his plan.
Obama reiterated he's ready to sign "a tough package that includes both spending cuts, modifications to Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare ... and [that] would include a revenue component."
The new and potentially crucial difference? "We now have a bipartisan group of senators who agree with that balanced approach," Obama said. "And we've got the American people who agree with that balanced approach."
The new proposal from three senatorial Democrats and three very conservative Republican counterparts raises hopes that the political will for meaningful compromise - and dodging an Aug. 2 deadline for avoiding a debt default - may be near at hand.
"We're closer now than we've ever been," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters after Obama left the briefing room.
House Republicans have steadily balked at any "grand bargain" that raises revenues - meaning taxes - and the House last night, in a 234-to-190 vote, pushed through a $6trillion package of spending cuts tied to a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget.
That measure is dead on arrival in the Senate. Obama has said he would veto it and added yesterday that the bill would never reach his desk anyway, but said he did "understand the need" for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to bring the bill to a vote.
Translation: At least 100 House Republicans, including all 87 freshmen who have pledged never to back a tax hike, need the political cover of a tough if symbolic vote to satisfy ideological purists like Tea Party backers before even considering a compromise.
Still, a deadlock-ending deal is far from certain, and the clock is ticking away. "We don't have any more time to engage in symbolic gestures, we don't have any more time to posture," Obama said in a clear slap at GOP hard-liners.
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