Obama calls Boehner, says he still won’t negotiate

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President Barack Obama called Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, on Tuesday to again tell the top House Republican that he wouldn’t negotiate over reopening the government or raising the nation’s debt ceiling.

The phone call came within an hour of Boehner’s most recent public plea for Obama and Senate Democrats to come to the bargaining table and agree to talks to solve the fiscal impasse.

“The president called the speaker again today to reiterate that he won’t negotiate on a government funding bill or debt limit increase,” Boehner aide Brendan Buck emailed reporters.

According to the White House, Obama “repeated what he told him when they met at the White House last week: the President is willing to negotiate with Republicans — after the threat of government shutdown and default have been removed.”

Obama also again demanded that Boehner bring up a clean extension of government spending and a clean approval of increased borrowing authority.

The call occurred at around 10:45 a.m., just a short while after Boehner emerged from a closed-door meetings to put the pressure on Obama to negotiate.

“There’s never been a president in our history been a president who didn’t negotiate over the debt limit. Never. Not once,” Boehner said following a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans.

But the very subject of whether to negotiate has set Obama and Boehner apart — a difference on top of their opposing views over how to fund the government, and whether to preserve health care reform.

Obama and his Democratic allies have said they are more than happy to negotiate over any number of topics, but only after Republicans vote to approve a clean extension of government spending and authorize an increase in the debt limit.

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