STUMBLING BLOCK

Debt Talks Hung Up on Taxes

Senate leaders trade barbs as impasse looms.

Democrats and Republicans traded barbs Tuesday over each party’s tax position in the budget negotiations—giving no indication they'd be able to break the impasse by August 2, the day the Treasury Department is set to default on its loans. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell blamed Democrats’ “insistence on raising taxes in the middle of an economic slowdown,” while Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid accused the GOP of wanting to “save tax breaks for corporate jets.” A deal is not likely to happen soon, although it will take weeks for Congress to draft it into legislative language, and pass it. Obama is scheduled to meet with Senate Democrats Wednesday.