Obama Cancels Appearance at Fundraisers as Debt Crisis Remains Unresolved
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Obama will no longer headline two political fundraisers in Washington Monday as the White House and Congress continue their battle over the terms of raising the U.S. debt ceiling.
As the threat of default grows increasingly worrisome ahead of the August 2nd default deadline, the White House appears to have thought the better of going forward with the fundraisers either for fear of the image it would portray or perhaps so the president can remain readily engaged in talks.
At this point, there are no meetings with Congressional leaders on the president's schedule following a weekend of unsuccessful negotiations.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The two fundraisers, organized by the Democratic National Committee, were on the president's "Week Ahead" schedule last week, but when the finalized schedule was released, the fundraisers were taken off.
An Obama 2012 campaign official tells Fox News that the Vice President will be attending one of Monday's fundraisers in place of the president. That event is set to take place at the St. Regis Hotel. The second fundraiser has been canceled but may be re-scheduled in the future.
The official adds that a planned west coast swing by the president was recently nixed, as was a New York stop, which was supposed to have taken place last week. That trip was postponed until August.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Also in jeopardy is the president's attendance at his elaborate 50th birthday celebration in Chicago. Fox News reported recently that there are two fundraisers planned to benefit the president's re-election as well as the DNC, which would include an intimate dinner with high-dollar donors and a concert.
A campaign official says the president will not attend those fundraisers if the negotiations over the debt ceiling are still ongoing.
Ironically, the events are scheduled for August 3rd -- the day after the deadline for default and the day before Mr. Obama's 50th birthday.