Posted on 11/16/2012 1:30:46 PM PST by Hojczyk
Any solution likely would come in two phases, with steps now to avert a crisis and promises of a broader tax reform process in 2013.
None of the lawmakers made any mention of a big sticking point — Obama's insistence that tax rates go up, as scheduled, at the start of the year for individuals making over $200,000 a year and families earning over $250,000. Republicans flatly oppose that proposal.
At issue are a broad series of looming tax increases across every income bracket, coupled with across-the-board spending cuts. The gritty work of negotiations is now under way, and the White House work on this matter will be carried on by staff members as Obama heads off to Asia on Saturday.
The president made a point of sounding — and looking — like a man willing to compromise.
He joked with Boehner about his 63rd birthday on Saturday and later gave him a bottle of Italian wine.
Obama said the goal was to prevent a tax hike for middle-class families, create jobs and keep the economy growing.
"That's an agenda that Democrats and Republicans and independents, people all across the country share," Obama said. "So our challenge is to make sure that we are able to cooperate together, work together, find some common ground."
Boehner said he put forward a plan that meets Obama's goals of "balance."
"To show our seriousness, we've put (tax) revenue on the table, as long as it's accompanied by significant spending cuts," Boehner said later. McConnell, R-Ky., agreed but said his members believe too much spending, not too little taxing, is the problem.
Reid, D-Nev., said any deal will not come down to the end of December. "There is no more, 'Let's do it some other time,' " he said. "We're going to do it
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
If there's a crisis coming, let it come.
If the math doesn't add up, it never will.
Let's hit bottom and get to revolutionizin'
The sooner we start, the sooner it'll be over.
250 - 300 Billion a month ,just a small tax increase ,to cover their expenses
IF they agree to some "future cuts", you KNOW the Democrats will fight ANY cuts to the handouts to their voterbase, and there will be no MEANINGFUL Spending Cuts, EVER.
Trusting a Democrat is like negotiating with Terrorists; you can't trust them to do what they promise WHATSOEVER.
Shut the WHOLE damned Government down for a year, save TRILLIONS, AND, we prove that it is a bloated for-profit scheme that costs us 1/2 our earnings.
If the Senate does not due a budget..the house should shut down and go home until they have one
The Republicans can go to Hell as far as I’m concerned. They should NOT raise the debt limit. They should just go home for Christmas break, sit back, and let the automatic spending cuts take place. Shut the whole goddamned thing down.
Most of the tax hikes will be averted other than perhaps some on the top 1-2%. Almost no spending cuts will happen. The result will be status quo with trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see.
At the end of the day the entire battle House Republicans waged in 2011 to get cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling will come to nothing - everything will just get kicked down the road. The markets will be happy in the short term and Obama will be praised as having “averted the fiscal cliff”. This can charade can probably go on for another few years before it catches up with us.
Not raising the debt limit is not realistic. It's just not going to happen. If the Republicans did that, half of them would be driven from office in the first month by furious constituents. We are so far in the hole, over 1 trillion per year at this point, that it is politically impossible to call for the kinds of immediate cuts which would be necessary without additional borrowing authority.
The problem is, in the most recent debt deal we agreed to put off all the painful cuts so far into the future that the whole point of the debt fight is forgotten and it's all about averting the "fiscal cliff" now. Only immediate or short term cuts ever happen, and the Republicans didn't get near enough in exchange for raising the debt limit.
We're just gonna keep kicking the can down the road. That's what Europe is doing, and that is what we are going to do. Each new deal or Fed sleight of hand will have less and less impact in juicing the markets. This house of cards is closing in on us, but the powers that be can probably kick the can for another several years.
-——We’re just gonna keep kicking the can down the road-——
Yep.
Politicians are incapable of action. They can only react. That means the kicking can only cease when the can is dented to destruction
Correct, and ultimately that is the fault of the people. The pathetic truth is, even many conservatives don't want anything they care about cut. Oh conservatives tend to depend less on government so they have fewer sacred cows, but touch any of them and folks on our side will squeal almost as much as the other side. I know lots and lots of supposedly conservative older people that will scream bloody murder if you start talking about changing or cutting SS and Medicare.
All too often in democratic systems people vote for what they want, not what they need. Some say at about the 200 year mark the decay accelerates and the system begins to implode.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.