No Deal

House Speaker John Boehner emerged from a White House meeting that lasted more than an hour. He gave brief remarks to the press, in which he said that “They will not negotiate” on the spending resolution or delaying or defunding Obamacare, which is consistent with the position that President Obama and the Senate took before the meeting.

Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid then emerged and, with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi alongside, proceeded to blast Boehner for focusing on a “short term continuing resolution” with ” the debt ceiling staring us in the face.” Up to now, the continuing resolution/Obamacare fight and the debt ceiling fight, which comes into focus October 17, had been separate battles. Reid merged them.

Pelosi also blasted Republicans, claiming that Republicans failed to negotiate on spending for six months prior to the October 1 onset of Obamacare. She demanded that the House pass the Senate’s version of the continuing resolution, which funds the entire government including Obamacare. That has been the Democrats’ position all along and represents no compromise.

Reid returned to the microphone and claimed that “This has never happened before,” before accusing Republicans of treating Social Security and Medicare exactly as they are treating Obamacare now in trying to get the unpopular law scrapped. He praised President Obama for being “strong, strong, strong” in the negotiations.

Media tried to ask questions but Reid and Pelosi continued to deliver their points.

Pelosi appeared to disagree with Reid at one point, when she suggested that the debt ceiling should be “taken off the table” in the discussions which are not negotiations, for now.