President Barack Obama sought on Monday to narrow the gap between his Democrats and Republicans over raising the U.S. debt ceiling, but neither side sounded inclined to compromise ahead of the talks, according to Reuters. Obama met Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid for a little over 30 minutes at the White House and is scheduled to sit down with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell at 5 p.m. (2100 GMT). Reid left the White House without talking to reporters and it was not immediately clear if the ground covered in the meeting would be made public. Time is running out ahead of an Aug. 2 deadline to raise the borrowing limit. Administration officials said the most important thing was to keep both sides talking, which was why negotiations had escalated to the president. Talks led by Vice President Joe Biden broke down last week over Democrats' demands to include raising tax revenues alongside spending cuts to lift the $14.3 trillion borrowing limit before the government runs out of cash on Aug. 2. Failure to act risks the United States defaulting on its financial obligations, which could push the country back into recession. Obama is also trying to ease public concern over his handling of the deficit, which is likely to be a key topic as he seeks re-election next year. The U.S. federal deficit stands at $1.4 trillion, among the highest levels relative to the economy since World War Two. -- SPA
