NO BLISS FOR CHAMBLISS - The Washington Post’s Phillip Rucker and Lori Montgomery lay out the Georgia Republican’s problem: “Coburn’s withdrawal left Chambliss exposed, pushing him into the position as the group’s highest-profile conservative. Democrats refused and Coburn left the talks as a result, said the aide.” “On Monday, the aide said, Coburn asked for an immediate $130 billion in cuts to Medicare, on top of the $400 billion that had already been agreed to. Rogers and Raju note for POLITICO that Coburn called Durbin early Tuesday to inform him of the decision, and it seems likely other senators also got a heads-up.ĭEMS: DEAL WAS NIGH BEFORE IT WAS NIXED - “The aide said that Coburn had been extremely close to agreeing to a deal before a recent two-week recess, but returned with five new demands that hadn't been discussed before,” the Huffington Post’s Ryan Grim and Michael McAuliff write. Warner’s office before the others and left before they arrived.”īUT. “The group agreed to meet all afternoon on Tuesday, but Mr. Coburn came with new demands for $130 billion in additional reductions in Medicare spending over the coming decade,” Jackie Calmes writes fro the New York Times. THE BREAKING POINT - “The six senators met for dinner on Monday and their discussion was described as impassioned at times after Mr. It’s got to be six of us.'" They go on to report the major impasse is over Medicare savings, with Coburn wanting more and Democratic negotiator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) opposing him. 'But there won’t be a proposal by five of us. 'We’ll continue to get together because there’s still ideas,' Chambliss said. "he loss is ominous, and Chambliss signaled that to make a deal work, Coburn would have to be brought back into the fold.
'But right now, I don’t see us solving what needs to be solved," They write. 'These guys have worked hard, and we had 80 percent of some significant things the country needs to do,' the Oklahoma Republican told POLITICO. Coburn "predicted no meaningful deal can be reached until Democrats accept a greater share of savings from government benefit programs. POLITICO's David Rogers and Manu Raju write about Coburn's decision. Coburn concluded what most everybody else outside the room had a long time ago: The negotiators aren't likely to achieve that goal. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) threw his hands up in the air and added the minor inconvenience of renaming itself to the Gang of Six's enormous challenge of striking a debt-reduction deal that can outshine the president's own debt commission and congressional task force and win the support of the president and lawmakers from across the ideological spectrum. (with assists from Jake "Fast Break" Sherman and Kevin Robillard)ĬOBURN-ED: AND THEN THERE WERE FIVE - Sen.
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