Tuesday, July 12, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama and GOP lawmakers, hundreds of billions of dollars short of their goal and seemingly trapped in inflexible bargaining positions, are struggling for agreement on $2 trillion-plus in budget cuts as the price for maintaining the government’s ability to borrow. Lawmakers were asked to return to the White House for talks Tuesday afternoon after a 90-minute Monday session produced no progress other than to identify the size of the gap between Republicans and Obama. Neither side showed any give that might generate hopes for a speedy agreement. Instead, Republicans again took a firm stand against revenue increases while Obama and his Democratic allies insisted that they be part of any equation that cuts programs like Medicare.