Posted on 10/25/2013 5:37:34 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Obama says he doesn't want to hear about spending cuts By Justin Sink - 10/25/13 04:41 PM ET
President Obama told Republicans in Congress that he doesn't want to hear about additional cuts to government programs after the 16-day shutdown.
The president said the country can afford to make investments in areas like education, and he noted that the shutdown cut into the economy.
“Don't tell me we can afford to shut down the government, which costs our government billions of dollars, but we can't afford to invest in our kids,” Obama said at a school in Brooklyn.
“This obsession with cutting for the sake of cutting hasn't helped our economy grow, it's held us back,” Obama said.
Standard & Poor's has estimated that the shutdown took about $24 billion from U.S. economy. Obama blasted “a small group” of House Republicans for causing what he said was a “manufactured crisis.”
Congress now faces a Jan. 15 deadline for funding the government, and a Feb. 7 deadline for raising the debt ceiling.
A House-Senate conference committee will meet next week to begin negotiations on how to handle those deadlines. Both Republican and Democratic leaders have said they are interested in getting rid of the sequester of automatic spending cuts, while downplaying hopes for a “grand bargain” deal that would cut into entitlements and reform the tax code.
Obama said the site of his speech — the Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) in Brooklyn — was an example of the type of program that lawmakers should be investing more tax dollars in. Students at the school graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate degree in computers or engineering.
“We need to redesign more of our high schools so they teach young people the skills required for a high-tech economy,” Obama said.
The president noted that during his tour of the school, he had stopped in on a “real world math” class to meet with students.
“It got me thinking, 'Is it too late to send Congress here for a remedial course?' ” Obama quipped.
At the same time, Obama said parties needed to “pull together.”
“We need to work together to grow the economy, not shrink it,” he said.
It was the first visit to Brooklyn for Obama since his election to the White House. The president noted that he briefly lived in the borough during the 1980s.
“Brooklyn is blowing up right now,” Obama said. “When I was living here, Brooklyn was cool, but not this cool.”
Earlier Friday, Obama held a conference call with Democratic leaders — including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (Wash.), and House Budget ranking member Chris Van Hollen (Md.) — to plot their strategy forward in the budget negotiations.
FUBO
At this point it would be better for the GOP to propose 3x what the democrats ask for, crash the bond market and bring on the collapse.
Obama, you sound more like a chick every day.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and predict that President Obama’s near term future is going to include a very substantial list of things he does not want to hear about.
The Sequester is settled law. Your move sparky.
Complete waste of time talking to this uniquely stupid man about anything.
..start the proceedings PLEASE....
They been throwing money into the education system for years billions and the kids still cant read or write. Get rid of the unions and useless teachers and government regulations. FUBO
Invest in our kids? Really?
Obama, your kids are going to send the biggest FUBO in the world your way.
Prepare your narcissist ass.
Reeducation? Does that come with a camp?
If shutting down government costs billions, and if government is rarely shut down, wouldn’t we be in profits by now?
There's a traffic jam in Harlem that's backed up to Jackson Heights.
So, all who think Boehner and the boyz and the GOP minority in the Senate will stand up against tax hikes across the board and further reckless spending, raise you hands!
Well tough ****. The Kenyan works for us and WE want to hear about spending cuts. He’ll be gone back to Africa, Indonesia or Hawaii in three years and we’re the ones who will have to live with and clean up his mess!
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