WASHINGTON — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said negotiations with the White House over raising the U.S. debt limit Wednesday were still hung up over a disagreement on future spending, indicating that the two sides were far apart with only eight days before the government could face an unprecedented default.A tangible government spending cut in exchange for hiking the debt ceiling is a bedrock GOP demand, but a red line so far for the White House. Increasing the borrowing limit does not authorize new spending.As the U.S. inched closer to default and possible economic chaos, McCarthy blamed Democrats for the holdup. “And the off ramp here is to solve the problem to spend less than we spent last year,” he said during a press conference at the Capitol. The California Republican repeatedly touted a partisan spending bill that House Republicans passed in April with no votes from Democrats as the only option to raise the debt ceiling. “Don’t blame us Republicans when we put a reasonable bill together,” said McCarthy.Stocks fell to session lows following McCarthy’s comments, as investors closely watched the talks for any sign of progr …
