Complete US Debt Talks Update

A complete summary of what is happening (or not, as the case may be) in the third and final act of the debt talks tragicomedy courtesy of Reuters.

• President Barack Obama has no scheduled face-to-face meetings with Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress.
• Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell are discussing modifications to a plan put forward by McConnell that would raise the debt limit and put nearly all the burden on Obama to carry it out. The plan could include about $1.5 trillion in spending cuts and set up a congressional panel to find further savings.
• White House budget director Jack Lew tells Sunday talk shows that progress being made in debt talks and lawmakers have time to reach a deal on substantial deficit reduction ahead of an Aug. 2 deadline when the government will be unable to pay all of its bills.
• Senator Dick Durbin, the second ranking Democrat in the Senate, says on NBC's "Meet the Press" that a constitutional amendment to balance the budget will not pass the Senate, but the Senate will consider such a measure next week.
• Senator Jon Kyl, the second ranking Republican in the Senate, tells ABC's "This Week" that "If all else fails...we will not be the ones who took the country into default, the United States will not default on its debt."
• Republican Senator Jim DeMint says on NBC's "Meet the Press" it is time to "draw a line in the sand" because "a day of reckoning is going to come."
• Republican Senator Tom Coburn, who has participated in bipartisan deficit reduction talks, tells CBS's "Face the Nation" that he will offer an ambitious plan to cut the deficit by $9 trillion over 10 years. He concedes it won't pass the Senate. It includes items difficult for Republicans such as cuts for defense spending and revenue increases from closing special interest tax breaks.
• The Republican-led House of Representatives to vote on Tuesday on a plan calling for immediate spending cuts and capping the level of federal spending to a percentage of the economy, 18 percent by 2021. The House also is to consider a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.
• Lawmakers are under intense pressure from state governors, U.S. businesses and U.S. creditors to strike a deal and raise the debt limit. Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, a Democrat, said on Saturday at a National Governors Association meeting in Salt Lake City, "This is a dangerous and equally ridiculous situation that's playing itself out."

5