This afternoon President Barack Obama called eight leading legislative leaders to the White House on Thursday to continue negotiations over raising the debt ceiling. Calling on lawmakers to find long-term deficit reductions rather than to “kick the can down the road” with short-term fixes, he once again warned against the harrowing consequences of not reaching a deal before August 2, and therefore defaulting on the nation’s debt for the first time in history. Press Secretary Jay Carney said that the leaders have agreed to the meeting. “There has been progress every step of the way,” he added, optimistically, after the presser. [ABC News]
