A confident President Barack Obama said Friday that negotiation is close with Republicans on $33 billion in financial plan cuts, and he warned that without a deal the resulting government shutdown would "put at risk our financial revival" just as jobs are finally being created.
In spite of his assessment, negotiators report little progress; Senate Democrats backtracked on a key dispensation from former in the week and Congress' top Republican sounded less positive than the president that a breakthrough was coming up.
"There is no number. There is no harmony on a number" on how much to cut, insisted White House Speaker John Boehner, who is underneath strain from tea party-backed conservative not to give too much ground. Still, he added, "I am not practicing for a government shutdown."
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