Obama, Boehner Clash

President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) brought their competing debt solutions to the American people Monday night in dueling prime-time addresses.

Obama, speaking from the White House East Room, initially touted the grand bargain that he was initially pursuing, but closed his remarks with an endorsement of a plan crafted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that would raise the debt ceiling through the 2012 election while cutting $2.7 trillion and not raising revenue.

In his remarks from the U.S. Capitol, Boehner dismissed the Reid plan as “phony accounting and Washington gimmicks.”

Boehner’s plan includes raising the debt ceiling in two six-month steps. In the first period, the President would be given the unilateral authority to raise the ceiling. In the second, the ceiling would be raised after a Congressional Committee finds $1.6 trillion in savings, a plan that would likely focus partially on entitlement programs.

Boehner’s plan would also include a vote in both chambers on the Balanced Budget Amendment.

The U.S. is expected to default if the debt limit is not raised by August 2nd. Both Obama and Boehner warned Monday evening that the consequences of such a scenario would be disastrous.