Obama, GOP Leaders Agree to Negotiations on Bush Tax Cuts

The top Republicans in Congress came out of their first meeting with President Obama since they swept the November elections and said the conversation Tuesday at the White House yielded an agreement by the president to begin negotiations on the future of the Bush tax cuts, now on track to expire at the end of the year.

"We had a very frank conversation, and it was interesting that both Democrats and Republicans understood what the American people had to say Election Day," speaker-in-waiting John Boehner said on Capitol Hill after returning from the White House. "The president and Democrat leaders agreed that the American people want us to create jobs and cut spending."

Boehner also said that the president suggested that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and OMB Director Jacob Lew begin meeting as soon as possible with Democratic and Republican leaders to find a compromise on the Bush tax cuts, in Boehner's words, "to unlock this disagreement that we have over extending all of the current rates."

For his part, the president told reporters he was "pleased" with the meeting, which also included Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.). He called the atmosphere of the room "extremely civil." He noted that there is always "political incentive" to "try to the defeat opposition in a hyper-partisan climate," but Obama said he was "pleased to see several of my friends in room say, 'Let's try not to do that.' "

Republicans in Congress are pushing for a permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts at every income level, while Obama and most Democrats want to keep them only for income up to $250,000 per year for families. Several moderate Democrats in the Senate are pushing for an extension of the cuts for all Americans for two years or until the nation's economy recovers.

McConnell said after the meeting that he told Obama that Republicans are united in their opposition to increasing any taxes, even for the wealthiest Americans. "We ought to treat all taxpayers the same," he said. Obama said he was optimistic that the country would have "answers in the next couple of days" on the issue.

McConnell added that Republicans' other top priority for the lame-duck session remains funding the federal government through the next fiscal year. The current appropriations for the government will expire on Friday, but the Senate has failed to pass any of the 12 annual appropriations bills to renew the spending levels for 2011.

The U.S.-Russia START arms treaty -- a high priority for the White House in recent weeks -- was also discussed. Sen. John Kyl (R-Ariz.), the linchpin to the treaty's passage in Congress, was present at Tuesday's meeting, and Obama said he addressed Kyl's concerns that the legislation needed further examination and discussion before ratification. He reminded Kyl "that this treaty had been vetted for seven months," had gone through 18 hearings, had broad bipartisan support, and remained "essential to America's national security."

The leaders also took up the pending report from the president's deficit commission, and discussed the pressing matter of unemployment insurance, set to expire today. Obama said he urged members to "act to extend the insurance without delay."

Although GOP leaders gave no indication of whether or how they would compromise with Obama in the future, McConnell said he remained optimistic about making progress with the Democrats.

"There is no particular reason why we can't find places of agreement and do some important things for the American people," he said.

But Boehner stopped short of making any promises.

"We had a very nice meeting today, we've had a lot of nice meetings," he said. "The question is can we find the common ground the American people expect us to find."

The president remained upbeat about the meeting, saying that "people came to it with the spirit of trying to work together," but that "None of this is going to be easy." He vowed to hold more meetings with congressional leaders in the upcoming months, noting that longtime Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid had not yet visited Camp David. Obama reiterated his desire to focus on policy, and not politics, in advance of the 2012 presidential elections.

"The next election is two years away," he said. "There's plenty of time for campaigning. We need to choose the best of our ideas over the worst of our politics."