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Updated Saturday, July 30, 2011 11:57 pm TWN, AP, AFP and Reuters

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Debt problem has multiple solutions: Obama

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama says there are multiple ways to resolve an impasse in Congress that threatens to put the U.S. in default next week, but it has to be bipartisan and it has to happen fast.

The president urged Democrats and Republicans in the Senate Friday to come together on a plan to raise the country's borrowing authority that can pass the House and that he can sign.

He spoke at the White House as a bill by Republican House Speaker John Boehner to lift the debt ceiling and slash spending remained unexpectedly stalled after Boehner failed to muster the necessary votes.

Republicans were set to try again Friday and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced plans to move forward on a rival measure ahead of the Tuesday deadline to act or face unprecedented default.

Obama warned the United States was “almost out of time” to agree on a deal to raise the nation's debt ceiling, insisting that a compromise was within reach.

“This is not a situation where the two parties are miles apart,” Obama said, insisting that any deal must be a bipartisan one and urging Americans to keep up the pressure on Republicans and Democrats.

Obama said he was ready to work with both top Democrats and Republicans through the weekend to get a debt ceiling accord.

Obama said he remained confident a solution could be reached despite the impasse that has raised the prospect of a U.S. credit rating downgrade and default.

Unless the US$14.3 trillion debt ceiling is raised by Tuesday, Aug. 2, the United States will lose its ability to borrow and start to run out of cash to pay its bills.

The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives will try to pass on Friday a revised bill to raise the nation's debt limit for the short term, a senior Republican told reporters.

House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier said the retooled bill would place tougher requirements on Congress for passing a balanced budget constitutional amendment.

House Republicans leaving a briefing with their leaders told reporters the revised bill was attracting more support from conservatives who had blocked an earlier version of a debt limit bill from coming to a vote late on Thursday.

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Comments

July 31, 2011 jlee39@

Stop spending so much money (5 trillion dollars so far) on UNWINNABLE wars in Afghanistan (Graveyard of Empires), Iraq (Operation Iraq Liberation) and Libya, and start investing more in rebuilding the US instead of letting it turn into another Camden NJ, East Saint Louis Illinois, or Newburgh NY.

The US has already spent almost ten (10) years fighting these wars with NO victory in sight !!!

If everyone studies their history, they can learn from their mistakes in Afghanistan, like Alexander the Great, the British, the Soviets empires, and now the US empire is now trapped within Afghanistan, with NO victory in sight.