Obama: Time to do ‘something big and meaningful’

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama insists the negotiations to raise the nation’s debt limit gives him and Congress “the opportunity to do something big and meaningful” to reduce the government’s long-term deficits.

Obama says he is willing to cut “historic amounts of spending” and says that should be coupled with more revenue from “fundamental tax reform.” The president expressed himself in an opinion piece that appeared Thursday evening on USA Today’s website.

Obama is in the midst of negotiations with congressional leaders over increasing the debt ceiling and cutting deficits. Time is running out on the talks, however, because the country won’t have the money to pay its bills on Aug. 2 unless its borrowing authority is increased.