WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and Republican House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner teamed up in a golf match yesterday to try to build a friendlier climate for troubled talks on the US debt and deficits.
In a game won on the 18th hole, Obama, a Democrat, and Boehner beat Vice President Joe Biden and Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich on a course at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, just outside Washington.
The four hit the links as Democrats and Republicans were at odds over ways to cut the US budget by trillions and to raise the $14.3 trillion ceiling on the nation’s debt.
Since May, Biden has been leading talks with a group of lawmakers. Without a deal to allow the nation to issue more debt, the Treasury Department has warned the government will begin defaulting on obligations on Aug. 2.
Kasich, a former congressman, is an expert on federal financial matters and a friend of the speaker.
At the first hole, Biden, a skilled golfer, sank a putt of about 15 feet.
“You all catch that?” Obama asked the reporters accompanying him.
