Obama meets congressional leaders on ‘fiscal cliff’, not making new offer
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WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - President Barack Obama met congressional leaders on Friday but there was little sign of progress in resolving their differences over the United States (US) federal budget and striking a “fiscal cliff” deal before Jan 1.
Mr Obama was not planning to make a new offer, a source familiar with the meeting said as the hour-long talks got under
way. None of the participants made statements to the media immediately after the summit at the White House ended.
US stocks fell for a fifth straight day, dropping 1 per cent as the federal government edged closer to the “fiscal
cliff” with no solution in sight.
Members of Congress are increasingly looking at the period straight after the Dec 31 deadline to come up with a
retroactive fix to avoid steep tax increases and sharp spending cuts that economists have said could plunge the country into
another recession.
