Boehner, Pelosi Spar Over History Of ‘Grand Bargain’ Fiasco

Sahil Kapur

April 20, 2012, 5:00 AM

 

Nine months after the famed deficit negotiations between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner collapsed, the House’s top Republican and top Democrat spent a full week sparring over what really happened at that critical July 2011 juncture. With a debt-limit driven economic crisis looming, Obama and Boehner neared a “grand bargain” on taxes and spending only to watch it splinter, then break apart completely at the 11th hour.

It started Tuesday, when Boehner told CBS Obama “lost his courage” toward the end and unfairly shifted the goal posts at the last minute — a common GOP claim, which the speaker says forced his exit. Obama demanded more revenue after an agreement was struck, the speaker said, and thus “bl[ew] up the deal.”