Obama, Boehner -- Deal? No deal?

Obama administration has informed Democratic Congressional leaders that President Obama and Speaker John A. Boehner were starting to close in on a major budget deal that would enact substantial spending cuts and seek future revenues through a tax overhaul, Congressional officials said Thursday.

With the government staring at a potential default in less than two weeks, the officials said the administration on Wednesday night notified top members of Congress that an agreement between the president and Mr. Boehner could be imminent. The Congressional leaders, whose help Mr. Obama would need to bring a compromise forward, were told that the new revenue tied to the looming agreement to increase the debt limit by Aug. 2 would be produced in 2012 through a tax code rewrite that would lower individual and corporate rates, close loopholes, end tax breaks and make other adjustments to produce revenue gains.

Officials knowledgeable about the conversations between the administration and Congressional leaders said the details of the potential package remained unknown but they presumed it would include cuts and adjustments in most federal programs, including Medicare.

However, officials on all sides of the tense negotiations warned that no firm deal was in hand yet, and tried to play down the progress — if only to stave off attempts to block it or influence its shape by hardliners on both sides of the debate on taxes and spending.

“While we are keeping the lines of communication open, there is no ‘deal’ and no progress to report,” said Kevin Smith, a spokesman for Mr. Boehner.

The White House denied that any deal is imminent. Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said that "there is no deal. We are not close to a deal.

Carney also said there are no meetings scheduled between Obama and any other congressional leaders, but that could change.

"As you know,"' Carney said, "this is a fluid situation."

The Times is reporting that "the Obama administration has informed Democratic Congressional leaders that President Obama and Speaker John A. Boehner were starting to close in on a major budget deal that would enact substantial spending cuts and seek future revenues through a tax overhaul, Congressional officials said Thursday."

In his tweet, Boehner urged the Senate to sign off on the House Republican plan known as "Cut, Cap, and Balance."

That is not expected to happen, as the Democrats who control the Senate say the House plan cuts too much from middle class programs and does not include new tax revenues. They also oppose the bill's proposed balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Obama met late Wednesday with Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va.; none of the parties commented afterward.

All sides said they are continuing to talk.

"While we are keeping the lines of communication open, there is no 'deal' and no progress to report," said Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck. "We are still focused on the 'Cut, Cap, and Balance' bill that passed the House with bipartisan support, and hope the Senate will take it up as soon as possible.

Obama arrives in Joplin to tour tornado-ravaged Missouri city

JOPLIN, Mo. — President Barack Obama arrived in Missouri on Sunday to tour the devastation wrought by a monster tornado and console the bereaved.

On its approach Air Force One swept over a massive swath of brown as far as the eye could see — a landscape of flattened houses and stripped trees.

Gov. Jay Nixon and others greeted the president on the tarmac before they set out for their first stop, a walking tour of a destroyed neighborhood.

The president will visit with survivors and family members of the worst tornado in decades - a monster EF-5 storm packing 200 mph winds that tore through Joplin a week ago. More than 130 people were killed and more than 900 injured.

Mike O'Connell, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Public Safety, told The Associated Press on Sunday that the number of unaccounted "just dropped" to 40 because of the latest deceased whose next-of-kin have been notified. The number had stood at about 100.

Thousands of motorcyclists also streamed into town from Missouri and surrounding states, many announcing their intention to block protests planned by the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church, which said it would picket Obama's arrival.

The controversial church opened a raw wound here with its announcement that those killed when a 200 mph tornado struck Joplin a week ago, now estimated at 139, "died for the sins of Missourians who have repeatedly lifted up their violent hands against God's anointed, despite plain warnings not to do so."

"We love Joplin. Joplin's hurting. Nobody needs to make it worse. They need to go home," said Mike Striegel, a biker from Joplin.

"We will take care of our town, no matter what it takes," added Herb Kirkpatrick Jr., a motorcyclist from the outskirts of Joplin.

Most of those lining miles of roadway between Joplin's main mall and the campus of Missouri Southern State University, where Obama was scheduled to speak after touring the 6-mile-long storm-ravaged area, were couples, families and groups of young people, many waving flags and posters of support for the city.

"We're trying to show respect and honor for the ones we lost in Joplin," said Charlie Brown, a co-organizer of the street rally, who said more than 20,000 people indicated on the group's three Facebook pages that they planned to attend.

"We want people to know that despite rumors that 75% of Joplin is destroyed, that is absolutely not true. We are alive. We are well. We are going to survive."

Obama, after meeting with storm survivors, was to deliver brief remarks, with Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, at a community memorial service at the university.

With cell service still considered spotty, authorities say they believe many of the missing could be alive, but not in a position to get in touch. However, they caution that many on the list may have been killed in the storm.

It could be weeks before the residents of Joplin grasp the full impact of one of the toughest twisters that caused the highest death toll from a single tornado in more than 50 years.

"In the past decade the average annual death toll from tornadoes has been around 60 to 70 people," meterologist Greg Carbin told ABC News. "The average killer tornado claims about two lives and so what's going on this year is something well above that.

"We're now approaching about 500 fatalities for the year to date, just under that," he said. "That is something we have not experienced in this country in over 35 years and it still looks like we're still around the number nine as far as the deadliest year on record. So there have been many years in the past over the past couple of generations in which we've exceeded 500 fatalities in a year, it's just that they haven't occured recently.

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