President Barack Obama said he opposes a deficit-cutting measurethat would only allow for a short-term increase in the country'sdebt limit as he called a meeting tomorrow with Republican andDemocratic lawmakers to work toward long-term fixes in thegovernment's finances.

The president's comments were the second time in less thana week that he has come to the podium to publicly push lawmakers tosecure a deal that addresses basic solutions to deficit spendingwhile averting a first-ever U.S. default on its obligations.

The Obama administration and congressional leaders areworking to complete a deal on a long-term budget reduction packageby July 22. That would give Congress enough time to craftlegislation raising the $14.3 trillion debt limit before Aug. 2,when the Treasury Department has said that its borrowing authorityexpires. Republicans have signaled that they could accept ashort-term package — an outcome that would force Congress to vote asecond time on the debt ceiling before the 2012 elections and thatObama would like to avoid.