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President Barack Obama’s health care law created a $5 billion fund to shore up coverage for early retirees, and some of that money is flowing to places you might not expect.

Two Texas public employee programs are among the top 25 recipients of the federal subsidy despite Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s opposition to the law Republicans derisively call “Obamacare.”

And records show the Huntsman family business, where GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman sharpened his executive skills, received about $1 million.

It highlights the gap between dire Republican rhetoric about the health care overhaul and the pragmatic impulse to cash in on a new government benefit.

Employer-sponsored health insurance for retirees has been shriveling for years, ever since companies were required to report the estimated liability to investors. Democrats who wrote the new law wanted to provide an incentive for employers to keep offering coverage. Only about 6 percent of private companies currently offer such a benefit for early retirees, according to the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute.

But that still works out to more than 400,000 companies. Add state and local government agencies, as well as union plans, and the number swells. Indeed, the Obama administration’s subsidy program got so many applications it stopped accepting new ones after approving more than 6,000. The program pays 80 percent of the claims amount for early retirees ages 55 to 64 whose care costs between $15,000 and $90,000.

The top beneficiary: the United Auto Workers retiree medical plan, which has collected more than $220 million.

“Some people have described this program as `Cash for Clunkers,’ in the sense that if you want it, you have to get in line first,” said Paul Fronstin, an economist with the research group. “There was a lot of advice given to be first in line.” The original Cash for Clunkers was an Obama administration program that paid people to trade in gas guzzlers for more fuel-efficient transportation. It created a marketing sensation before running out of cash.

Texas, it seems, heeded the advice. So did Huntsman International.

The Teacher Retirement System of Texas, a statewide system for public education employees, received more than $70 million as of Sept. 22, according to the federal Health and Human Services Department. The Employees Retirement System of Texas, which covers state employees, received about $30 million.

Huntsman International, the main operating subsidiary of the family-founded chemical conglomerate, is also collecting subsidies.

As candidates, both Perry and Huntsman have sworn to repeal Obama’s signature health care law, which gradually extends coverage to most of the uninsured and makes numerous other changes, including a ban on insurers denying coverage to people in poor health and an unpopular requirement that most Americans carry coverage quick cash.

Spokesmen for the Perry and Huntsman campaigns said they see no contradictions.

Texas taxpayers also pay federal taxes, said Perry spokesman Ray Sullivan. “State taxpayers have a right to get those federal funds returned to them, in this care in the form of disbursement to the teachers and state employee retirement systems,” said Sullivan. “No Texas law or policy needed to be changed in order for these agencies to be eligible to receive the funds.”

Huntsman spokesman Tim Miller said his candidate, Obama’s first ambassador to China and a former governor of Utah, is opposed to all subsidies.

Jon Huntsman has not been involved in the family business since 2005, said company spokesman Gary Chapman. Huntsman resigned from the company to pursue his political career.

Asked why Huntsman International applied for the early retiree subsidy, Chapman responded: “We’re a commercial organization. We are looking to maximize our shareholders’ value. If there was a legitimate opportunity for us to get help in this respect, we would go for it.”

Republicans have tried to paint the early retiree subsidy program as a political reward to unions, among the staunchest Democratic loyalists. According to calculations by the office of Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., the United Auto Workers Retiree Medical Benefits Trust has made out the best.

A UAW spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment. In its 2007 contracts with Chrysler, GM and Ford, the union agreed to form the trust to pay health care costs for the companies’ retirees, including early retirees too young to qualify for Medicare. The trust started paying bills in January 2010, before Congress passed the health care law.

The calculations by Enzi’s staff also list AT&T, Verizon, General Electric, General Motors, Qwest, Caterpillar and other private companies in the top 25, not to mention the two Texas state programs. AT&T received $157 million.

Several media companies are also benefiting. The Associated Press, a nonprofit news-gathering service owned by the nation’s newspapers, has received $191,888.

Back in Texas, public and private employer retiree plans have collected more than $326 million from the subsidy. They range from American Airlines to Texas A&M University _ Perry’s alma mater.

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An Egyptian court has convicted Hosni Mubarak’s powerful information minister on corruption charges and sentenced him to seven years in prison.

Anas al-Fiqqi’s conviction on Wednesday is the latest by an Egyptian court of former regime figures. Those already convicted and sentenced include the former interior and tourism ministers, as well as former ruling party stalwart and steel magnate Ahmed Ezz.

Former state television chief, Osama el-Sheikh, was sentenced to five years in the same case as al-Fiqqi’s.

Mubarak himself is on trial on charges that he ordered the use of deadly force against protesters in the 18-day uprising that toppled him in February. His two sons, businessman Alaa and one-time heir apparent Gamal, are also on trial on corruption charges.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

CAIRO (AP) _ Egypt’s first parliamentary elections since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak will begin on Nov. 28, the country’s military rulers said Tuesday in an announcement greeted with little fanfare by activists who have grown deeply suspicious of the generals’ commitment to change.

The military council, which took over from Mubarak as he stepped down in February, promised it would transfer power to civilian rule within six months, but no date was announced for presidential elections that would bring an end to military rule.

The concerns reflect the broader uncertainty over Egypt’s post-Mubarak course under a military council led by a man who served as Mubarak’s defense minister for many years. Egypt’s new revolutionary groups say the council has done little to dismantle Mubarak’s legacy and bring figures of the old regime to account for corruption, human rights abuses and other crimes.

“The new parliament won’t reflect the real spirit of the revolution and will provide justification for the military council to continue to be present in the background of the political scene,” said Mustafa Shawki, a youth group leader.

Even more troubling for the young activists who led the uprising against Mubarak’s rule, many believe the law governing the parliamentary election will enable remnants of the former regime to retain power in the post-uprising legislature.

The elections for parliament’s two chambers will be staggered over several months, with the vote for the legislative People’s Assembly starting Nov. 28 and the less powerful Shura Council, the chamber’s upper house, on Jan. 29. The first session for the People’s Assembly will be held on March 17. The Shura Council will convene on March 24.

Critics accuse the military of dragging out the process to prolong their time in power and sap the protest movement of its energy.

Youth groups are planning a protest this weekend to push for an amendment to the election law to have voters select party lists only, rather than a mix of party lists and individual candidates. Limiting the voting to party lists, they say, would make it harder for former members of Mubarak’s now-outlawed ruling party to run. They say the change would also help make Egypt’s politics less about personalities and more about policies.

Without those changes, some are contemplating a boycott.

There are also fears that the vote could widen the rift between Egypt’s well-organized Islamist parties and the new youth-driven secular groups, who fear the religious will dominate the parliament.

Islamic groups, kept on a tight leash under Mubarak, are also critical of the new election law. But they are eager to throw their weight around in the elections and are better prepared to win a big share of seats.

Essam el-Erian, the deputy head of the Freedom and Justice party, the newly launched political arm of the country’s strongest Islamist group, The Muslim Brotherhood, said the council disregarded discussions with the political groups over the shape of the new law.

But he said: “Egypt entered a new phase with this law. It is a de facto law that we have to deal with.”

For him, boycotting the elections is not an option. A boycott, he says, “is a dream and hope of many who want to maintain the current state of confusion.”

Without a broad consensus, a boycott of the elections appears highly unlikely.

The military rulers have accusations of their own against the protest movement. They claim some of the youth groups behind the Jan. 25-Feb. 11 uprising received training abroad and unauthorized foreign funding _ a claim that discredits the groups in the eyes of many Egyptians.

Adding to the tension was a late-night stroll Monday by the country’s military ruler, Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi, dressed in civilian garb in a downtown Cairo street near the epicenter of the protests that forced Mubarak out of office. Tantawi had never before appeared in public out of military uniform.

The surprise walkabout was interpreted by some as a sign that Tantawi may be entertaining ideas to shed his military uniform and present himself as a possible civilian president.

Calls to the military press office were not returned Tuesday.

“I just hope this was not the launch of a new election campaign for him,” said Shady el-Ghazali Harb, a protest leader and now a founder of a new party, called al-Waai or Awareness.

The last parliamentary election under Mubarak was held in November and December last year, when the ousted leader’s now-dissolved ruling party swept the vote, winning all but a handful of seats in the People’s Assembly.

The vote was widely condemned as the most fraudulent under Mubarak’s 29-year rule and considered one of the causes behind the 18-day popular uprising that forced him to step down on Feb. 11.

Egyptians went to the polls in March for a nationwide referendum on constitutional amendments. A decent turnout of more than 40 percent and the absence of any serious instances of fraud led many to declare it Egypt’s cleanest vote in living memory.

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General Motors announced it will invest $380 million and will add a second shift to its assembly plant in Wentzville as part of a new contract under negotiation with the United Auto Workers.

If union members vote to approve the four-year contract next week, it will mean 1,850 new jobs for the Wentzville assembly plant, said UAW Local 2250 chairman Mike Bullock, who is in Detroit for GM’s announcement today. Local 2250 represents hourly workers at the Wentzville plant.

The expansion will be for production of a 2014 mid-size pickup truck and and a full-size van, although GM did not release which models.

Bullock said if the contract is approved, the second shift will be added at the first part of 2012. Local 2250 will vote on the contract Monday and all votes are expected to be completed by next Tuesday.

“This will be a real shot in the arm for Wentzville and the St. Louis area,” Bullock said. “This really is a tribute to the men and women who work at the Wentzville assembly center and produce the best quality product at the best cost payday loan.”

Last week, Wentzville’s board of aldermen approved tax abatement for expansion of the Wentzville plant, which currently has a single shift and 1,300 employees.

GM makes Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans at the plant, about 40 miles west of St. Louis.

At GM’s press conference today, the Detroit-based automaker outlined investments at several other plants nationwide, including plans to invest $925 million at three Michigan factories that will create 900 jobs during the life of the contract. 

Including the Wentzville jobs, GM also outlined plans for investing in plants in Spring Hill, Tenn., and Fort Wayne, Ind., that will create or preserve a combined 3,700 jobs.

Check back on stltoday.com for updates to this story.  

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Stocks traded in narrow ranges on Thursday as investors awaited signals from the heads of the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve as well as President Barack Obama that they will help shore up economic growth.

While both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank kept their interest rates unchanged, President Barack Obama is expected to announce measures to boost jobs creation in the U.S.

“Global equity markets are attempting to rebound on building hopes for fresh stimulus from the global authorities to support growth,” said Lee Hardman, an analyst at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was flat at 5,318 while Germany’s DAX was steady at 5,407. The CAC-40 in France was 0.1 percent higher at 3,076.

Wall Street was poised for modest losses following Wednesday’s big gains _ Dow futures were down 0.2 percent at 11,394 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 futures fell a similar rate to 1,195.

Concerns over the state of the global economy have combined with fears over Europe’s debt crisis during the past month to send financial markets spinning. The repercussions of the recent turmoil are being felt in the actions of policymakers, most notably in the European Central Bank.

Instead of continuing on its policy of steadily raising borrowing costs, the ECB is expected to indicate later today that there won’t be any more interest rate rises in the months to come as it grapples with a worsening economic outlook as well as the debt crisis, which has already seen three countries bailed out.

Investors will be closely monitoring the press conference from bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet later for indications that rate hikes are off the agenda for now. The bank has twice raised its benchmark rate by a quarter point since April, taking it up to 1.5 percent.

His comments could have a major impact on the euro, which was trading 0.3 percent lower at $1.4038.

Later Thursday, Obama is set to make a speech to Congress about increasing the amount of jobs the U.S. economy is generating. Measures totaling $300 billion are expected to be announced as the president tries to get the unemployment rate down from 9.1 percent.

Meanwhile, there are hopes that the Federal Reserve will soon decide to provide the U fast cash without a hassle.S. economy with another monetary stimulus. The previous $600 billion program, which ended in June, was widely credited for the stock market gains recorded in the first over the year and its ending has been blamed for the ensuing reverse.

Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is also speaking later and investors will be monitoring his speech to the Economic Club of Minnesota for any signs that monetary easing remains an option.

“Will he keep his monetary cards close to the vest….or, will he be more forthcoming with respect to the need for, and type of, stimulus,” said Sal Guatieri, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets.

The hopes that policymakers will do more to shore up growth, including at a weekend meeting of finance ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized countries, has helped stocks recover over the past couple of days. A German court decision backing the government’s involvement in Europe’s bailouts has also helped calm concerns over the debt crisis ahead of a meeting of eurozone finance ministers next week.

Earlier in the day, Asian shares posted modest gains. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.3 percent to close at 8,793.12 as a softening yen helped Japan’s exporters. By late morning London time, the dollar was flat at 77.33 yen.

South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.7 percent to 1,846.64, benefiting from a decision by the country’s central bank to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged for a third month. Higher interest rates generally drag on stocks by making them a potentially less attractive investment.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.7 percent to 19,912.82 as did shares in mainland China _ the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.7 percent to 2,498.94 while the Shenzhen Composite Index lost 1 percent to 1,100.53.

The more buoyant tone in stock markets over the past couple of days has helped oil prices rally. Benchmark crude for October delivery was up 3 cents at $89.37 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

____

Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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Foreign investors cut their holdings of U.S. Treasury debt in June for the first time in more than two years. The decline came at a time of anxiety about whether the United States would raise its borrowing limit.

China, the biggest buyer of U.S. Treasury debt, increased its investment for a third straight month. But Japan, the second-largest buyer, along with Brazil, Russia, Hong Kong, and a group that includes the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Netherlands and the Cayman Islands cut their investments.

Overall foreign holdings dropped 0.4 percent to $4.5 trillion. It was the first decline since April 2009.

Much of the decline was driven by private investors. Their net purchases of long-term U.S. Treasurys fell a record $18.3 billion in June. Net purchases are the difference between what investors buy and sell in one month.

The decline lowered private investors’ overall foreign holdings by $15.1 billion.

Overall foreign holdings of governments, which include central banks, dropped only $1.7 billion. Governments account for roughly 72 percent of total foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury debt.

Congress and the Obama administration reached a deal on Aug. 2 that would allow the U.S. government to increase its $14.3 trillion borrowing limit by more than $2 trillion. It was approved hours before the U.S. faced a potential default on its debt.

The full increase is dependent on lawmakers reaching agreement on an equal amount of cuts to the deficit over the next decade cash advance flexible payments. Up to $1.5 trillion of those cuts must be negotiated by a special committee of lawmakers over the next three months.

The total deficit cuts fell short of the $4 trillion in cuts that Standard & Poor’s said was needed to achieve a credible deficit-reduction plan. As a result, S&P downgraded the U.S. government’s credit rating from AAA to AA+.

Economists said investors likely worried about how the debate in Washington would be resolved, and those worries contributed to the overall decline. Many economists expect foreign holdings will drop further in July because the borrowing limit was not raised until August.

However, they predict foreign holdings will increase in August. Congress approved an increase in the borrowing limit, and Europe’s debt crisis has made U.S. Treasurys more seem like a safer bet, they said.

“Now people are saying they want to hold U.S. Treasuries. They don’t care what S&P said,” said Chris G. Christopher Jr., senior principal economist at IHS Global Insight. “They are saying they have nowhere else to put their money.”

In June, China increased its holdings 0.5 percent to $1.166 trillion.

Japan trimmed its holdings 0.2 percent to $911 billion. Britain, the third-largest foreign holder of Treasury securities, boosted its investment 0.8 percent to $349.5 billion.

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WASHINGTON

Express Scripts will pay Medco shareholders $28.80 in cash and 0.81 of an Express Scripts share for every Medco share held. The deal makes Express Scripts the country’s largest pharmacy benefit manager, with annual revenue exceeding $100 billion.

What is a pharmacy benefit manager? These firms administer prescription drugs for private employers, unions and governments through chain pharmacies and independent drugstores. They also operate mail-order businesses that ship drugs directly to patients, a practice that is becoming popular among employers as a cost-savings measure.

Why does Express Scripts want to buy? The company says it can squeeze out $1 billion in savings from the merger, making Express Scripts more competitive when negotiating purchases from drugmakers and vying for PBM contracts cash advance no faxing. It also says the move will benefit consumers and businesses by lowering costs and improving efficiencies.

Why does Medco want to sell? Though already the largest PBM in the country, Medco recently suffered stumbles that eroded its competitiveness, such as losing a major federal employee contract and business with key customer United HealthCare.

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Campbell Soup Co. is raising its fiscal 2011 adjusted earnings outlook, but the world’s largest soup maker provided a somewhat disappointing forecast for next year.

The guidance was offered as Campbell was preparing to hold an important meeting with a group of analysts on Tuesday, during which incoming president and CEO Denise Morrison plans to lay out her vision for the food company.

Morrison will take the helm at Campbell on Aug. 1, when Douglas Conant is stepping down from the job after more than a decade.

Campbell, known for its iconic red and white soup cans, said that it anticipates fiscal 2011 adjusted earnings will rise about 1 percent from 2010 adjusted results of $2.47 per share. Its prior guidance was for adjusted earnings to fall 1 percent to 3 percent. Revenue is still expected to be essentially flat.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet predict 2011 earnings of $2.45 per share on revenue of $7.69 billion.

Shares of the Camden, N.J. company added 9 cents to $34.23 in morning trading.

For 2012, Campbell foresees adjusted earnings will decline 4 percent to 6 percent, with revenue flat to up 2 percent.

Analysts expect full-year earnings of $2.49 per share on revenue of $7.89 billion.

The soup maker gave a long-term outlook for annual adjusted earnings growth between 5 percent and 7 percent and a revenue increase in the range of 3 percent to 4 percent.

In a statement, Campbell said its new business strategy will include concentrating on expanding its simple meals, baked snacks and healthy beverage segments as well as boosting its presence in emerging markets.

Morrison, 57, will be the first woman to lead Campbell and has been an executive with the company for eight years. She became heir apparent to the CEO position in September 2010.

Since then, as chief operating officer, she has been examining the company’s operations and already has announced some major changes business cards design.

Two weeks ago, she announced a restructuring plan. It includes eliminating 770 jobs from the company’s worldwide workforce of 18,400, many of them through layoffs; shutting down its operations in Russia; beefing up investment in Australia and closing a manufacturing plant in Marshall, Mich.

She said the company would keep in place its fledgling effort to sell soup in China, which launched along with the Russian effort four years ago.

After Conant took over in 2001, he reversed the long-term erosion of sales of the company’s iconic condensed soups. One factor was an effort led by Morrison to reduce sodium levels. He also sold its Godiva Chocolatier operation and focused more on foods that can be marketed as healthy.

Conant, who took pride in regularly writing thank-you notes to employees and others, agreed to keep the company’s headquarters in beleaguered Camden, N.J., and expanded its corporate campus there.

In addition to soup, Campbell sells V8 juices, a line expanded under Conant; Pepperidge Farm cookies, crackers and bread; Prego pasta sauces and Spaghettio’s canned pasta.

But soup, which has high profit margins, remains its key business, and it has been struggling, with sales falling each of the last two years.

Already in the first three quarters of Campbell’s fiscal year 2011, its U.S. soup sales fell 5 percent.

Myriad problems have been at play, including cost increases for everything from soup ingredients to packaging material. Then, after a raft of promotions, the company was selling lots of soup, but for less money.

General Mills Inc., which owns rival soup brand Progresso, plans to announce its plans Wednesday.

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Rupert Murdoch’s decision to close the 168-year-old weekly British tabloid at the center of a phone-hacking scandal is an example of what the controlling shareholder of News Corp. does best _ seize the news agenda, and when necessary, cut his losses.

He’s also got his eye on a much bigger prize.

Analysts say the surprisingly bold move to shutter News of the World, a financial pipsqueak, is the best possible way to stem the flow of damaging headlines at rival newspapers and clear regulatory hurdles that stand in the way of New Corp.s’ pending multi-billion-dollar acquisition of British Sky Broadcasting, a cash cow that will boost earnings of the media giant.

News of the World, accused of hacking into the phones of regular citizens, is “a drop in the bucket” compared to News Corp.’s overall $46 billion market capitalization, said Collins Stewart analyst Thomas Eagan.

He pegged the tabloid’s value at an optimistic $650 million, or 25 cents per share. That’s far less than the 70 cents that News Corp. shares have fallen since Wednesday when it was revealed the tabloid hacked into the voicemail of a murdered girl, potentially harming a police investigation, and jeopardizing the company’s proposed takeover of BSkyB.

“I think it assuages some of the concern over ongoing problems at `News of the World,’” Eagan said. “It’s unclear what it means for the actual (BSkyB) deal approval. But I would think that it would tend to assuage some of the concern.”

Shutting a newspaper amid an industry-wide decline in print advertising revenue and increasing its stake in a profitable and expanding pay TV company will actually improve News Corp.’s profitability.

Most have a “buy” rating on the shares, thanks in part to an improving TV ad market, the recent decision to sell off money-losing social network Myspace, and its thriving cable channels such as Fox News.

Its TV and movie businesses accounted for practically all of the company’s $1.06 billion in operating profits in the third quarter through March. The publishing division containing newspapers contributed $36 million, or less than 3 percent of the total, while Myspace and related Internet businesses lost $165 million.

News Corp. shares closed down just 4 cents at $17.43 on Thursday after being up most of the day following the announcement of the paper’s closure.

“At some point when the smoke clears, we’re optimistic that investors will ultimately return to analyzing News Corp. on the merits of its high quality media business, which first and foremost include its TV businesses,” said Barclays Capital analyst Anthony DiClemente.

The British government on June 30 already gave its qualified approval, allowing News Corp. to purchase the 61 percent of BSkyB that it doesn’t already own, on the condition it spins off Sky News as a separate company.

News Corp. made an initial offer of 700 pence per share to buy the 61 percent of the shares it doesn’t already hold, valuing BSkyB at 12.3 billion pounds ($19.8 billion).

Analysts believe News Corp. may have to go as high as 900 pence per share to persuade shareholders to sell out.

At the time of the qualified approval, the tabloid’s headline-grabbing hacks appeared to be limited to celebrities and politicians, to whom it was prepared to pay compensation.

But public sentiment was inflamed anew after it was revealed this week that the paper’s targets included missing children, the relatives of soldiers slain in Afghanistan and the families of victims of London’s 2005 terror attacks.

The outrage prompted the U.K. media regulatory body, The Office of Communications, to release an unusual statement on Thursday, confirming that “it has a duty to be satisfied on an ongoing basis that the holder of a broadcasting license is `fit and proper.’”

An investigation into whether News Corp. would pass this subjective standard of propriety was seen as potentially derailing Murdoch’s BSkyB bid.

“You don’t even want that question being posed if you’re a media business do you?” said Louise Cooper, a markets analyst at London-based BGC Partners. “This is, to me, Murdoch taking back control.”

Analysts see the BSkyB deal approval being delayed until at least September, as Culture Minister Jeremy Hunt is not expected to give his final go-ahead before the U.K. Parliament goes into recess on July 18.

Despite the public outcry, many analysts think Britain will still sanction the takeover, since officials have already said that threats to competition will be resolved with Sky News’ spin-off.

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President Barack Obama prodded Congress Tuesday to reach a sweeping long-term deal within two weeks to raise the nation’s borrowing limit rather than “kick the can down the road” with a makeshift, short-term solution to stave off default. And he declared the agreement must include the tax hikes Republicans strongly oppose.

Obama said he was summoning leaders of both parties to the White House on Thursday to try to get it done and beat an Aug. 2 deadline to avert a financial crisis that could shake economic markets worldwide.

Republicans sounded entirely unimpressed with Obama’s insistence that an attack on federal deficits include tax increases for the wealthy and narrowed loopholes for oil companies as well as big cuts in government spending.

“We’re not dealing just with talking points about corporate jets or other `loopholes,’” said House Speaker John Boehner. “The legislation the president has asked for _ which would increase taxes on small businesses and destroy more American jobs _ cannot pass the House, as I have stated repeatedly.”

Boehner said he’d be happy to join discussions at the White House but predicted they “will be fruitless until the president recognizes economic and legislative reality.”

Obama said he opposed a stopgap, short-term increase, as suggested by some lawmakers. But he stopped short of ruling out a limited extension, and his spokesman Jay Carney later declined to say whether the president would veto such a measure.

Obama renewed his stand that any deal must include not only spending cuts but also new revenue _ tax increases vehemently ruled out by many Republicans in Congress.

“We need to come together over the next two weeks to reach a deal that reduces the deficit and upholds the full faith and credit of the United States government and the credit of the American people,” Obama said at the White House.

“We’ve made progress, and I believe that greater progress is within sight, but I don’t what to fool anybody _ we still have to work through some real differences,” the president said.

He said congressional leaders from the House and Senate, both Republicans and Democrats, were being invited to meet on the issue Thursday at the White House. That would bring the top eight lawmakers together with Obama and top administration financial officials.

Obama spoke as the Aug. 2 deadline for raising the nation’s borrowing limit came closer. Experts say lawmakers must waste no time in making a deal if they are to have any chance of getting it finalized and passed through both chambers of Congress in time.

Despite the president’s optimism, it remained unclear where compromise could be found. Republicans are insisting they will note vote to raise the debt limit without major spending cuts; Democrats are refusing to sign off on cuts of such magnitude without at least some tax increases as well. Republicans say they won’t sign off on any tax hikes at all, including those Obama wants targeting the wealthiest Americans or closing loopholes to corporations.

Underscoring the differences, aides to Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., even disputed Obama’s claim that progress had been made over the weekend after, as Obama put it, “my team and I had a series of discussions with congressional leaders in both parties.”

McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said there were no such discussions over the weekend that McConnell or any of his staff members were involved in, while a Boehner aide said there were no meetings, though he couldn’t rule out phone calls. Carney declined to provide any details.

Obama, meanwhile, called on lawmakers to “leave their ultimatums at the door,” but he stuck to his _ that any deal must include new tax revenue. “We need to take on spending in the tax code, spending on certain tax breaks and deductions for the wealthiest of Americans,” Obama said. The White House is proposing about $400 billion in increased tax revenues.

All told, lawmakers and the administration are seeking deficit cuts in the range of $2.4 trillion over the coming decade to balance a similar increase in the debt limit _ enough to keep the government afloat past the November 2012 election. Currently the debt limit is $14.3 trillion.

The administration says that if the government’s borrowing limit is not increased by Aug. 2, the U.S. will face its first default ever, potentially throwing financial markets into turmoil.

Many congressional Republicans indicate they’re unconvinced that such scenarios would occur, and some administration officials worry that it could take a financial calamity before Congress acts.

With the deadline nearing, the Senate canceled its July Fourth recess planned for this week.

In discussions led by Vice President Joe Biden that broke off late last month, Republican and Democratic negotiators found more than $1 trillion in potential spending cuts over the coming decade, including reductions favored by both sides.

A Democratic official said last week that of those cuts, roughly $200 billion would come mainly from savings from Medicaid and Medicare, the government health insurance programs for the poor and elderly. Another $200 billion would come from cuts in other automatically paid benefit programs, including farm subsidies. Another large chunk would come from cuts in discretionary spending that Congress approves every year.

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Associated Press writers Julie Pace and Ben Feller contributed to this report.

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