Robert J. Vickers
Harrisburg Patriot-News
Though U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey has no direct influence on the cloistered budget negotiations between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, he said Friday his ongoing push to cut and cap federal spending is affecting the high-level talks.
“Whatever agreement John Boehner and President Obama come to, it goes nowhere unless it’s approved in both houses,” said Toomey, R-Pa.
Obama, reeling Friday from new estimates of feeble job growth in June and a jump in unemployment to 9.2 percent, called for a rare Sunday sit-down with eight top congressional leaders to haggle over budget talks. Treasury Department officials say a budget deal that raises the debt ceiling must be agreed upon by Aug. 2, or the federal government will no longer be able to pay its bills.
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