Is President Obama Beginning to Crack in Debt Limit Showdown?

The New York Post reports this morning a sign that President Obama may be starting to crack on his demand for a huge, long-term Debt Limit Deal that includes tax-increases. Obama had said he would not sign any kind of a shorter-term deal to raise the debt limit. But his aides yesterday began to sound like he would accept a smaller, shorter-term deal “if that’s all they can get”:

NEW YORK POST: The White House yesterday cracked the door open for a smaller, GOP-backed debt-limit deal to avert a looming financial crisis.

Statements made by a top aide show that for the first time, the administration could back off its hard-line demands for a large, sweeping deal to increase the debt limit.

For weeks, President Obama has touted a massive $4 trillion plan that would hike taxes, increase spending cuts and overhaul Social Security and Medicaid.

House GOP leaders instead offered a smaller deal with only spending cuts that would increase the debt limit by $2.4 trillion, just enough to last until after the 2012 elections. Obama’s top staffers for the first time yesterday said a smaller bargain will do, if that’s all they can get. . . . Read More