Barack Obama: Senate Republicans

White House Dept: Obama is making a broader outreach to Republicans after the White House and Congress failed to reach a deal to avert the $85 billion in budget cuts that started going into effect Friday. The president is specifically reaching out to rank-and-file Republicans, not their leadership, according to Montreal Gazette. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's office said the president requested the meeting for next Thursday through his chief of staff. The office said Obama last attended the Senate Republicans' policy lunch in May 2010 and wASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is hosting Republican senators for dinner at the White House on Wednesday and plans a rare meeting with congressional Republicans next week as tensions between his administration and the opposition party remain high over ways to fix the country's massive deficit. The meetings come as the U.S. braces for its latest fiscal crisis, a possible government shutdown at the end of the month over funding issues. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.