Boehner breaks off debt talks with Obama

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Speaker John Boehner broke off talks with President Barack Obama on Friday on a deficit-reduction deal to prevent a devastating default, derailing efforts to strike a sweeping agreement. With the deadline just 11 days away for Congress to raise the federal government's borrowing limit, a stern-faced Obama expressed frustration at the Republican leader's move, saying it was "hard to understand why Speaker Boehner would walk away from this kind of deal." Boehner, in a letter to fellow lawmakers, said the talks fell through because he and Obama, a Democrat, had "different visions for our country." Boehner said he would now try to hammer out a deal with the Democratic-controlled Senate. A deep divide over tax revenue undermined the negotiations, ending an ambitious bid to craft a $3 trillion deficit-cutting plan that now seems beyond reach. Continue reading