White House press secretary Jay Carney said Obama urged the congressional leaders to avoid another "self-inflicted" fiscal crisis over the debt ceiling.
A political battle over raising the debt limit last year took the U.S. to the brink of default. After months of negotiations on federal spending, Obama signed compromise legislation to lift the debt ceiling on Aug. 2, the day the Treasury had warned the nation's borrowing authority would expire.
The White House and Congress face a crush of tax and spending decisions at the end of this year. Income tax cuts first enacted under President George W. Bush will expire, as will a temporary reduction in the Social Security payroll tax. More than $1 trillion in automatic spending cuts are set to begin taking effect, extended unemployment benefits will run out and the government will again brush up against its $16.394 trillion legal cap on borrowing.
In a speech yesterday in Des Moines, Iowa, Romney accused Obama of contributing to a mounting deficit that he said stifles economic recovery and "threatens what it means to be an American."
Treasuries
While Romney and congressional Republicans are attacking Obama on government spending and the nation's debt, Yields on the government's benchmark 10-year notes rose one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 1.78 percent at 2:02 p.m. New York time, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader prices. Rates are about one-quarter of the 50-year annual average of 6.49 percent.
Through last week, investors had offered $3.18 for every dollar of notes and bonds auctioned this year, the most since the government began releasing the data in 1992.
Federal Debt
The total federal debt is almost $15.7 trillion, up from $10.6 trillion on Jan. 20, 2009, when Obama was inaugurated, according to the Treasury Department.
At an event this morning, Obama was joined by Small Business Administrator Karen Mills to highlight an administration proposal that would offer a 10 percent income tax credit for small business firms that create new jobs or increase wages in 2012. It also would extend 100 percent expensing in 2012.
The five-point package also includes offering companies a tax credit for moving their manufacturing back to the U.S., making it easier for homeowners to refinance and renewing tax credits for clean energy development and creating a Veterans Job Corps to help post-Sept. 11 veterans find work as police officers and firefighters.