Rep. Gardner Talks With CBS4 About Budget Deal Deadline
DENVER (CBS4) - President Obama was hosting congressional leaders again Tuesday afternoon in hopes of hammering out a deficit deal.
Leaders have met for two days, but are far from agreeing. Republican Rep. Cory Gardner talked with CBS4 about what he thought about the negotiations. He said he thinks lawmakers and the president will meet the Aug. 2 deadline.
"We will continue to meet our obligations, but we're going to do it by cutting spending, by eliminating this credit card debt we're in, make sure we're not raising taxes," Gardner said.
The President says both sides need to make sacrifices. Gardner talked about some of the things Republicans might be willing to give up.
"I think anytime you're asking the American people to increase spending by trillions and trillions of dollars, that's a sacrifice because they know they're going to be paying for that down the road," Gardner said. "What we're (the Republican party) saying, what I'm saying, is let's not tax our economy, especially at a time when unemployment is rising. Just last week we heard the unemployment rate went up from 9.1 to 9.2 percent. Unemployment is on the rise again and many want to increase taxes. That's not the right strategy for economic growth."
A lot of people think the negotiating going on is just a show. But the markets tumbled Monday partially because of worries that leaders are not going to get a deal done.
Watch Gardner's entire interview in the video clip below:
"I do think we need to get things moving. I think with the Aug. 2 deadline it is time to move forward. But it's also time to make it very clear: We need to cut spending. We need to rein in government," Gardner said. "We need to do the responsible thing for the American people. That's not kicking the can down the road to future generations. It's cutting spending now. It's putting in place policies that grow our economy. But that's not tax increases and that's not expanded government."
The president says he's willing to move in the Republicans direction to get a deal done.
"I'm prepared to take on significant heat from my party. And I expect the other party should be willing to do the same thing," Obama said.
If an agreement isn't reached by Aug. 2, the U.S. will default on its loans.
