Progress emerges in U.S. budget talks; Murray sees path to deal
By Richard Cowan and Caren Bohan
WASHINGTON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Signs of progress began to emerge in U.S. budget talks on Tuesday as top Senate Democratic negotiator Patty Murray said she sees a path toward an agreement to ease automatic spending cuts known as the "sequester."
Murray, asked if there was a path forward in her talks with her counterpart, Republican Representative Paul Ryan, said: "I believe there is."
The lawmakers are racing against a Dec. 13 deadline for a deal, as Republican resistance to including new tax revenues continued to be a sticking point, according to a senator on the negotiating committee headed by Murray and Ryan.
On Jan. 15, funds for many government activities will be exhausted. Without a budget deal by then, another government shutdown could occur.
Senator Murray, chairwoman of the Senate Budget Committee, did not elaborate on possible consensus in the talks but said the two were working toward a small deal.
Her comments echoed positive sentiments expressed by some Republican and Democratic aides, and by a fellow member of the budget-negotiating panel, Senator Angus King, an independent who votes with the Democrats.
King told reporters it was his impression the regular meetings between Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, and Murray were yielding progress in the talks. But he added, "My understanding is there are major issues outstanding, the principal one being revenues."
Murray and other Democrats on the 29-member budget panel are seeking revenues from the closure of tax breaks for the wealthy and large corporations to replace part of the sequester cuts, which are due take a $91 billion bite out of funding for government agencies and discretionary programs next year.
Republicans have refused to consider such tax hikes and want to pay for any easing of the sequester with spending cuts on federal benefits programs.
The next round of across-the-board spending cuts known as "sequestration" are set to begin Jan. 15, the same date that federal government funding expires again.
A spokesman for Ryan, of Wisconsin, declined to comment on the talks.
But Ryan, speaking at a Wall Street Journal forum, said he was comfortable predicting there would not be another government shutdown on Jan. 15 because either he and Murray would reach a deal or funding would be extended at levels reduced by the sequester cuts.
"Either one of those two scenarios will prevail and we will not have another shutdown," he said.
He said he did not expect similar "theatrics" over the next debt-limit deadline in February because Republicans would shift away from trying to use it to stop "Obamacare" health reforms.