WASHINGTON, Sept 23, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - US President Joe Biden met Wednesday
with the warring wings of his Democratic Party in an effort to save his
troubled economic plans.

  The White House said in a statement Biden held three "productive and
candid" meetings with two dozen members of Congress, as he dives in to try
and settle an internal party squabble threatening to sink his ambitious
social spending and infrastructure agenda.

  One meeting featured the two most powerful Democrats, House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Both are close Biden allies
but are struggling to get their ranks in line behind the economic plans.

  Biden then met with a group of moderate Democrats, including senators Joe
Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, who have got cold feet about the huge price tag.

  Pointedly, the president then met separately with Congress members on the
left of the party, such as Senator Bernie Sanders. There was apparently no
plan to bring the two sides around the same table.

  "This is an important moment. We're in a pivotal period of our negotiations
and discussions," Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. "He sees his role
as uniting and bringing people together."

  Biden and the leftist legislators back quick passage of a $3.5 trillion
package addressing climate change, child care and education. The vast
proposals would fundamentally improve the lives of ordinary Americans left
behind in an increasingly unequal economy, Biden says.

  However, Manchin is among those calling the price too high, instead backing
something far less than half the total.

  Republicans are in no mood to help on the social spending plan, although
they could vote for a separate smaller bill funding transport and other
traditional infrastructure.

  With the Democrats having only a razor-thin majority in Congress, the
disunity threatens to bring down the entire agenda, sucking the energy out of
Biden's presidency.

  "There are many Americans who have lost faith in their government's ability
to pay attention to their needs," Sanders tweeted after his meeting. "Are we
going to prove their disillusionment right?"

  But Biden is "encouraged" that the pace of talks is picking up and ready to
compromise, Psaki said.

  He has "always been open to negotiations and discussions and knew he was
not going to be able to wave a magic wand."

  Pelosi, speaking after her meeting with the president, said the bill was
"on schedule."

  "We are calm and everybody's good and our work is almost done," she told
reporters.

  However, the clock is also running out as Congress simultaneously squabbles
on a vote to increase the government's borrowing limit, an impasse that could
trigger a US debt default and deliver a bad shock to markets.