Republican leader tells party to get back in line on debt deal

Republican congressman John Boehner today claimed "we're getting there" as he hastily rewrote proposals to avoid a US debt default.

After a furious reaction by his party to Mr Boehner getting his sums wrong yesterday, today he bluntly told rank-and-file Republicans to "get your a*** in line - I can't do this job unless you're behind me".

The speaker of the House of Representatives shrugged off President Barack Obama's threat to veto any successful Republican Bill that would lead to huge spending cuts and another vote on the debt ceiling in the new year.

Mr Obama supports an alternative drafted by senate majority leader Harry Reid that cuts spending yet provides enough borrowing authority to tide the government over through next year.

If the deadlock over lifting the borrowing limit is not broken by August 2 the US will be unable to pay its bills for the first time in its history and faces losing its triple-A credit rating.