voters. i m asking you all to make your voice heard. if you want a balanced approach to reducing e deficit, let your member of congress know. reporter: he said the amican people may have voted for divided government but they didn t vote for a dysfunctional government. he blamed republican leaders, who want spending cuts alone. and he warned of catastrophic consequenc if the government defaults on its debt. skyrocketing credit card and mortgage rates. he urged viewers to let members of congress know they want what he calls a balanced approach to cutting the deficit, some spending cuts, some tax increases. the o only reason this baland approach isn t on its way to becoming law right now is because a significant number of republicans in congress are insistinon a different approach. a cuts-only approach. reporter: boehner struck back with an address immediately afterwards. and he gave no ground, saying it is the president and democrats who are blocking a deal by failing to support
their own parties, don t they? reporter: that s right. president obama has shown a willingness to cut back on entitlements, like social security and medicare. boehner, according to democrats, has been willing to allow some tax increases but house republicans simply have not gone along. democrats say they have moved more. and in fact the latest bill by senator harry reid says no tax hikes in it. rob and tanya? what was the president trying to do or trying to say to the american public last night? reporter: well, first of all, he was trying to pressure republican voters, pressure voters to call republicans by rallying them, getting them toto call the capitol as you said. that s worked a little bit, shutting down n bsites. he s also rallying his own base. if it all fails he wants to turn a loss into a political gain by blaming republicans as clinton did when the government shut down in the mid 90s. john hendren reporting live from washington, thank you. keep an eye on that thro
on the american people. reporter: and he leveled blame. the only reason this balanced approach isn t on its way to becoming law right now is because a significant number of republicans in congress are insisting on a different approach. a cuts-only approach. reporter: the leader of those republicans, house speaker john boehner, made it a showdown. he gave no ground, saying it is the president and democrats who are blocking a deal by refusing to back the plan of house republicans. the sad truth is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago. and he wants a blank check today. this is just not going to happen. reporter: a face-off that revealed a stalemate with no apparent progress. democrats still want the nation s debt ceiling raised through the end of 2012. republicans still want a short-term deal with no tax hikes. in other words, nowhere close to a deal and the clock is running out, rob and tanya. john, the truth is both of these men, boehner and obama, have had
this morning on world news now, the political plea during primetime. the president is asking the public for help. he s telling americans to put their own pressure on members of congress to avoid a financial disaster. it s tuesday, july 26th. from abc news, this is world news now. good morning, i m tanya rivero. and i m rob nelson. immediately after the president finished, the outspoken house eaker johnhn boehner presented his gop message on the ongoing debt negotiations. the entire political drama playing out as americans start now fearing the worst, not only about the economy but of course their own personal savings. and it s a huge, huge risk. and some damage may havave already been done here.