Boehner abandons efforts to reach comprehensive debt-reduction deal

Source: Washington Post

By Paul Kane, Updated: Saturday, July 9, 8:00 PM
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) abandoned efforts Saturday night to reach a comprehesive debt-reduction deal, telling President Obama that a mid-size package was the only politically possible alternative to avoid a first-ever default on the nation’s mounting national debt.

After speaking with Obama -- who is hosting a key meeting Sunday evening on steps forward on the debt issue -- Boehner issued the following statement:
"Despite good-faith efforts to find common ground, the White House will not pursue a bigger debt reduction agreement without tax hikes. I believe the best approach may be to focus on producing a smaller measure, based on the cuts identified in the Biden-led negotiations, that still meets our call for spending reforms and cuts greater than the amount of any debt limit increase.”

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/2011/07/09/gIQARUJ55H_story.html

"We'll accept steep cuts to SS, Medicare, and Medicaid now so we can protect the tax cuts for the wealthy."

Obama: "We got a deal!"

:banghead:

Surely, that means Obama sucks...or something.

Goodness. Find a new hate-toy.

Do you have another explanation?

Please.

Seriously, please.

That would be a good first step.

Er, I mean, what?

:rofl:

:shrug:

Look like Keith and Big Ed?

:)

Show us the facts that prove tax cuts create jobs........ it should be easy because you have been saying that for ten years


I called my republican rep the other day and talked to one of his aides and said that it is the republican mantra that tax cuts are good for this country. I told her to send me the facts to prove this point and I work for tax cuts. If the rep and her could provide these facts then he needed to change his position or else he was just a liar and had no business in congress. Still waiting.........

We all need to call our reps and make them prove their positions and do not let up...........

to neutralize the Ryan issue?

One of the largest newspapers here in NC had this headline on Friday: OBAMA ALARMS DEMS, AARP. On The Table: SOCIAL SECURITY.

That headline, alone, has already done damage.

more to Social Security and Medicare than to anyone or anything else.

Even if Republicans gain control of Congress and the WH and then cut them, their refrain will be, even Democratic President Obama realized cuts were necessary and stood ready to cut them.

BTW, when Obama supposedly traded extending tax cuts for those making over $250K, I believed Obama and his rightist financial team wanted that extension. And, I believe they want these cuts. Hence, Obama took the 14th amendment "off the table" ust as a hard core Republican was saying the Constitution might require raising the debt ceiling.

And Pelosi, claiming that changing the COLA would not be cutting benefits.

President Herbert Clark Hoover, vindicated at last. Didn't even take a full century.

hopefully you're right.

Republicans are recognizing a 1935 Supreme Court case forbids them to back off from the obligations that the U.S. has incurred pursuant to legislation passed by Congress.

Besides, they were going to raise the debt ceiling anyway. Public opinion and the consequences of not raising it were against them---and they knew it. When challenged by interviewers, they've been saying they would raise it, but August 2 (or whatever the date is) is not a "real deadline."

If Obama gives them anything for raising them the debt ceiling, it will be a giveaway.

and let the repubs deal with whatever fall-out they create.

ha ha

that might be the fallout the GOP gets from this. Dems get to say "We would have done more to balance the budget but the GOP would not!"

The $2 trillion in cuts agreed to will be some of those accounting things, office of this or that scales back in 2015 blah blah. I don't think it will be harmful to the economy (fingers crossed) or much else.

If we could do something for jobs between now and Nov. 2012 we can fix all this shit then.

We need to have a few more Sharon Angles and the witch from RI so the GOP either starts losing big.

Wonder what Fox will do with this? Will they let the Tea Party control the dialogue or the "adults"?

ha ha

They blinked.

Not only is he blinking, but he's swerving all over the damn place.

drunk would have half a chance of keeping his eyes on the road.

Since Boner agrees with the solution Vice President Biden orchestrated, let Joe close the deal.

would be a massive gift, not a "deal."

If Obama agrees to it, someone should make him put an (R) after his name.

...so I'm not sure why we expect either side to negotiate. If you truly believe someone to be the enemy, the one who you believe wishes you to die, to cease to draw a free breath, then you never compromise. Period. These elected officials are doing exactly what we've demanded of them - screaming louder, taking no shit, giving no credit, sharing no space with "the enemy". We hired them. We get the government we deserve.

but then there is no gun to anyone's head. Can't do that.

And it failed by a wide margin.

require them to raise the debt ceiling. Supreme Court said very clearly in 1935 that it does. But no sooner did they start saying that than Obama said the 14th amendment was off the table. WTF?

is Obama isn't going to do anything regarding the 14th Amendment the Republicans will see as "cram down."

Of course, there are Republicans who think anything short of allowing the government to default on its debt (thereby triggering the worst financial crisis the world has ever seen, which the teabaggers will immediately blame on Obama) is cram down.

And that's his final offer.

Bohner is a weasel.

"I believe the best approach may be to focus on producing a smaller measure, based on the cuts identified in the Biden-led negotiations, that still meets our call for spending reforms and cuts greater than the amount of any debt limit increase.”
- Boehner


We dont know WHAT the cuts already proposed are.

in context of the bigger deal.

Someone may still try to put them there, which will trigger my own personal nuclear option.

Personally, at this point I prefer republcians to refuse to negotiate and for Obama to use the "Constitutional Option" and just contine paying off the debts. it may be that the Republican Leadership prefers that too. They don't have to try and push through a Bill that will rip the party apart.

I think Boehner backed away from the bigger deal because he could not get the votes from Republicans and Pelosi was not going to help him.

I agree, that would break the cycle of deficit blackmail the GOP is setting up with this gambit.

A mid-sized deal only gets us to right after the election, and Boner is betting that he'll hold an even stronger hand by January, 2013. This deal will depress employment even further when the cuts are implemented, and the reich-wing will have something that even the starry-eyed economists (who declared a 'recovery') will call a double-dip.

That gets the independents all scared, and fear is how Republicons motivate voters.

But out the generosity of his heart, Boehner will agree to a deal that involves merely humongous tax cuts without a tax hike.

In other words, the GOP is willing to blow up the world in order to prevent any tax hikes on billionaires.

Interesting thing to make non-negotiable.

He wants the cuts without the tax increases.

Whether it's 2 trillion or 4 trillion, tax hikes should be on the table. But, oh no, we can't have people who have benefited for far too long from a lopsided tax code paying their fair share. It never ceases to amaze me:

Republicans: No, No, No, NO, Hell NO!
Democrats: No.... no.... well, no, but.... hmmmm, maybe...... Ok (sigh)

They'll just go vacation to the islands and wait for the smoke to clear on the wreckage that once
was our beautiful country.

Maybe a few of the well-off got caught a bit flat-footed when the 2008 recession/depression started, but I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of them have taken the steps needed to ride out an economic disaster from a shutdown. All they have to do is wait until January, 2013, and they'll be able to get back into the game again.

but the reality of the situation is, the GOP has done everything they could think of to block any progress.

This is one of the most perfect cases of political suicide I've ever seen. Even R's are ticked off at Boehner and his minions from hell. This may well be the last GOP congresscritters ever elected, and they will be torched in 2012.

Stupid fuck.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Boehner pushes smaller debt-reduction deal -- CNN headline on google
http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/07/09/debt.talks/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

He expects people to read that as tax (rate) hikes, which were not on the table.

Here Boehner is calling the end to current tax loopholes as a tax hike. In some cases we are not even talking about taxes at all. Credits that are used to offset income are not tax revenue at all. Rather they are a tax expense. They should count as cutting spending rather than as a tax hike because no tax was paid in the first place and it truly does reduce spending. Just because something is embedded in the tax code does not mean they are taxes -- as is the case here.

:dem: :nuke:

Now, if Obama has ANY common sense at all, he will make it his mission in life to hang the albatross of the coming default around the GOP's neck!!!

but his loyal followers doubted this! Oh my, how can it be?

So this Congress will either let them expire or try to pass over an Obama veto.

The Bush tax cuts were extended for two years. Added to that was the Obama one year tax holiday that cut the Social Security tax rate by 2% for employees. Perhaps that is what you are thinking of.

The GOP has been screaming for the past year about just how dangerous the federal debt is. "It's going to make Jesus cry, punch you in the kidneys, and eat your grandchildren!"

Oh, but apparently it's not so urgent to do something about fixing it.

God, those bastards piss me off!

Which means they can't suddenly say they don't owe money anymore. Nobody is discussing doing that.

The 14th says nothing about paying debts late or what to do if Congress doesn't authorize the money to pay them.

Everything else would kind of fall into place. :eyes:

This is the consequence of 10 years of purges.

thats rich.

And which they probably would have to do, even if the Constitution did not require it?

Is that correct?


(And is that photo from Photoshop?)


If Obama agrees to that, anyone who calls it a "compromise" is, IMO, a liar or a fool.

Source: Reuters

An effort to craft a broad deal of up to $4 trillion in deficit-reduction appeared out of reach on Saturday as Republican leader John Boehner cited differences with the White House on taxes and proposed pursuing a more modest package.

"Despite good-faith efforts to find common ground, the White House will not pursue a bigger debt reduction agreement without tax hikes," Boehner said in a statement. "I believe the best approach may be to focus on producing a smaller measure."

Boehner and Obama spoke by phone on Saturday.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/10/us-usa-debt-boehner-idUSTRE76903420110710

scheduled to meet tomorrow? Is that "off the table" now?

AFAIK, Republicans are offering nothing, except what they have to do anyway, for 3 reasons:

1. The Constitution, as interpreted in a 1935 SCOTUS case.

2. Practical reality.

3. Public opinion.


They've been saying as much one at at time, when interviewed on national TV. The only thing they are saying is that August is not a real deadline.


Whatever Obama may give them in exchange for doing something they are going to do anyway would be too much.

His taking the Constitutional issue "off the table," just as Republicans were starting to acknowledge that it "might" obligate them to raise the debt ceiling was a big clue he wants the cuts as much as they do.

I am at the point where I am just sick and gaw damn tired of listening to your whinny arse. You can’t lead so take yourself and prez obama out of the scene, both of your are as worthless as a hangover. SHUTE THE GOVERNMENT DOWN ... DO IT NOW! I believe that is the only way we are going to see any change in America is when we enter the CHAOS BREAKDOWN ZONE!

If it is true that taxes and SS and Medicare were the sticking points, then I give the President credit for sticking to his guns on the tax issue. Great job, Sir, now just Keep standing up to them.

However, I think it is Congress people like Bernie, who were the sticking points in regards to SS and Medicare cuts by way of messing with the COLA. So a credit and a huge thank you to them. Sorry for doubting you Congressional Dems, but the interview with Nancy Pelosi yesterday was scaring me into thinking that you were getting ready to cave. I truly believe the President would have gone through with messing with the COLA, if he and Boner, thought they had the votes for it.

I am still worried that the attack on SS and Medicare is far from over, but lets just hope it keeps meeting opposition.

Well done. :thumbsup:

Boehner pushes smaller debt-reduction deal -- CNN headline on google
http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/07/09/debt.talks/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

Are taken off the table, what is left that could produce $2T over 10 years? How much of that is defense -- otherwise it completely guts things like education.

The funny thing is that the last I heard Democrats were only going after loopholes and not a new rate for millionaires and billionairs. Another article said that the top 25 hedge fund managers had earnings of $22 billion. Their pay is a special class that a loophole treats as capital gains even though no actual stock is involved. That means that that income is taxed at 15%, which is the lowest tax rate. Treating this income as salary, which it really is, would make that $22 billion taxable at 35%. That alone would bring in nearly $4 billion but Boehner won't hear of this. Just as Boehner won't hear of removing the special tax treatment for corporate jets, oil company credits and other sweetheart deals only available to several hundred people/corporations each year. Why can several hundred people dictate tax policy for a hundred million people? It makes no sense.

Republicans don't compromise. The "good faith efforts" Boehner spoke of were a deal to balance the budget with no revenue increases, which even a blind man can see can't be done given the depth of the hole Bush dug. Obama is smart enough to realize not only that he'd lose 100 percent of his base by doing a deal like that, but that it wouldn't work in the first place.

So we're back to a 14th Amendment deal.

the table And the 14th amendment deal would be the Republicans raising the debt ceiling in exchange for nothing. See Reply 11.

"Do Nothing Congress".

Recall that the GOP ran on "jobs", and instantaneously dropped that when they realized this would take actual work and legislation. They went after "entitlements" and social regression, painting themselves into a corner, the GOP imploded, (which is fine by me). Boehner has proven himself to be inept, and Cantor, as well as the other mice, have done nothing other than add to that assessment.

Boehner has marched up the scaffold, tied his own knot and placed it over his head, hell, he even bought the rope! Good riddance to this bum and his clown car GOP "leaders".

I am at the point where I am just sick and gaw damn tired of listening to your whinny arse. You can’t lead so take yourself and prez obama out of the scene, both of your are as worthless as a hangover. SHUTE THE GOVERNMENT DOWN ... DO IT NOW! I believe that is the only way we are going to see any change in America is when we enter the CHAOS BREAKDOWN ZONE!

(OOPS - posted twice, sorry about that)

We knew this already from their failed fiscal policies. Now they want to double-down on it.

Why are all the news bites about him? What did Obama say? What are the Dems saying. It seems the Repubs are "Oh So Important".

Obama is now becoming irrelevant to the financial future of our country. He created this mess and has mishandled it from the beginning in extending Bush tax cuts and de-funding Social Security. He has allowed the pukes to dictate more than anytime in the recent history of the presidency with the pukes only controlling the House. The next Democrat up needs to explore a presidential challenge in 2012. Boner is becoming the de facto president by taking the initiative and dictating the agenda. Pathetic leadership by Obama, a failed presidency. I cannot recall ever in modern history that the debt-ceiling has be used to destroy a sitting president. Obama is suppose to be really smart, sorry but he is in overhead and taking the Democratic Party down with him. 2012 will be a even bigger disaster than 2010.

yup

That is it. Its time for the President to take action and show no mercy. Obama should immediately direct the Secretary of the Treasury to begin selling 25 percent of the gold reserves in Fort Knox. That should be enough to scare the far righty gold hoarders out of their minds when the price drops 40 to 60 percent. Sure they will be cursing Obama but will get relief only by telling their bought and paid for Congressmen to cut a deal with the President. Crisis averted, and even if does not, there is enough gold to move the debt ceiling 30 to 40 days past the August 2nd deadline. With all of their constiuents holding gold worth $140/oz. there wont be much left in their pockets to help their candidates.

Can't President Obama pass an executive order, without the GOP screwing us out of anything, that raises the debt ceiling?

That would be a decisive, sane act on his part. Then (if he wants to), he can go on tee vee and inform Americans why he felt compelled to do this.

The "people" love a decisive President and in this case, it just makes sense. Don't let obstructionists destroy America and the social contract that all (non-wealthy) citizens need. Explain it just that way. I realize it is not "flying" a fighter jet onto a ship to say "Mission Accomplished." but, to me, it is the logical thing to do.