President Barack Obama has ended a nearly two hour debt-limit negotiation brusquely, declaring: "Enough is enough" as he rejected Republican demands that he accept a short-term extension of the government's borrowing authority.
Democratic officials and Republican aides familiar with the negotiations say the meeting ended after White House officials had identified more than $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years to reduce the deficit. Pressed by House Republican leader Eric Cantor to accept only months-long debt ceiling increase, Democratic officials say Obama announced: "Enough is enough. We have to be willing to compromise. It shouldn't be about positioning, and politics and I'll see you all tomorrow."
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the closed-door meeting.
He's mad because he's finally finding out he's not omnipotent.
ReplyDeleteWe will have to watch and see how this tantrum plays out. I suspect it will be the most painful cuts possible.
We'd better be ready to brace ourselves and take it-- if Obama gets his way there will be little hope left for this country.
Soros must have insisted that the adolescent man-child hold his ground.
ReplyDeleteHe was right to do so. . .no president would want the debt ceiling being thrown in their face every two months. He wants to get this done. I'm glad he is finally showing some strength here. He tends to be a calculating individual. A good card player. I feel he will string Republicans along until they have no time to react. He will bait them with treats like raising the eligibility age for Medicare to 67 etc. Keep them interested. Then let things fall. This is how Clinton got reelected in 95 (Newt and the other Reps. took the blame for shutting down Govt)
ReplyDeleteRecently Mitch McConnell stated:
"Because they want to raise the debt ceiling and of course we know that is going to happen. Just like we knew shutting down the government in 1995 was not going to work for us, it helped Bill Clinton get reelected. I refuse to help Barack Obama get reelected."
Republican Senator Lindsay Graham:
"Our problem is, we made a big deal about this for three months How many Republicans have been on TV saying, 'I am not going to raise the debt limit,' said Mr. Graham, including himself in the mix of those who did so. "We have no one to blame but ourselves."
Obama is bluffing and Republicans have been tricked. They thought they were making progress yet nothing has been agreed to. The clock is ticking away and now they are short on reaction time. I'm betting on a Republican fold or a government shutdown.
Go Obama! :o)
Funny how the conservatives are so big on deficits today but were mighty quiet on the topic in the not so distant past.
ReplyDeleteTo get us out of this hole we will have to make major cuts AND increase taxes. Seems to me business boomed during the 90's and 80's under higher tax rates and these historic tax cuts have resulted in historically weak job growth. Of course these facts don't matter to the idiot idealogues who think taxes are a magic wand.
Funny so many of you who believe the BS are the same ones who will be relying on the entitlements which are the biggest drag on the deficit soon (if not already).
Reading these comments, you people are as bad as Obama and the Republicans.
ReplyDeleteYou're all putting political strategy ahead of the good of the country.
11:07 How much and how often should we raise the debt ceiling (wasn't it $4T 2 years ago) so one misguided ideologue can bankrupt our country trying to prove they rest of they world they're wrong and he's right. He's killed the economy spending $245,000/temporary job with his TARP, wiped out and upended a whole level of the auto industry by spending on Cash for Clunkers as much as $17/gal on fuel saved, he's driven the unemployment rate to unprecedented levels with his misguided attempts to punish successful people that have made enough money to live well and employ others by trying to take more of the fruits of their labor and pass it out to those willing to do little or nothing except vote for him. And when challenged he sues the challengers. When the courts - even the Supreme Court - finds him wrong he tells them they don't know what they are doing.
ReplyDeleteHope there is no agreement on his terms. When the economy goes to Satan's playground in an Obama woven hand-basket maybe enough intelligent people will be able to maneuver around him until he is replaced by someone with an IQ greater than a belt size.
dittos 12:13.
ReplyDeleteto 12:13>
ReplyDelete". . .his misguided attempts to punish successful people that have made enough money to live well and employ others by trying to take more of the fruits of their labor and pass it out to those willing to do little or nothing except vote for him."
A lot of these "successful people" who have "made enough money to live well and employ others" are the ones shipping jobs overseas, putting their money in offshore bank accounts where it cannot be taxed, and getting Bush tax breaks while doing all of the above! Sorry, I have no mercy on the rich man. These guys, in many cases, did not work for the money that they have. . .they were born into it! Look at the Koch brothers who exert so much influence on the Republican party! The rich OWN the Republican party!
Glenn Beck once had some smarmy young Republicans on his show. They had done a survey which I feel captures the Republican mindset. They had asked fellow students at a college if they would agree to "transferring GPA points from the high performing students to the low performing students". . .many of the individuals in the survey said "no, absolutely not. . .they didn't earn the points" . . .this was considered a good analogy for the Republican side against tax increases for the rich and entitlement programs. . .however it simply illustrates a flaw in Republican thinking. The flaw that, as in college, we are all starting at the same starting line. I mean, it is only fair that we start at the same line in sport. However, in the game of life, there is no limit to how low a person can be at the start. In college, as in our example, we use SAT scores and high school GPAs to determine which students get into college. Once we all get in. . .the playing field is relatively fair. We have a standard. With hard work we can all graduate. In life, there is no standard. Some people are born in poverty and must work themselves out (most never do. . .cannot graduate). . .some people are born rich and their only work is to increase (not just maintain) their financial status (Koch brothers) at any cost. Corporate greed is not a virtue as Gordon Gecko might have you believe in the film Wall Street. Corporate greed is NOT good and its killing this country (especially the middle class who are paying all the bills for Wall Street) I hope you're rich, friend, because I would like to think you're getting something out of voting Republican. Other than their phony morality promises. HAHAHA
What a joke.
:o)
I'm going to say "Well put" to 12:13. To stay this course will finally kill what was once the greatest country in the world.
ReplyDeleteand to 11:31, the reason intelligent people who have money take it out of the country with the world's highest tax rate (US) and put it in countries with low tax rates is because....anybody?...c'mon! even you can answer this one! No? Oh, well, move along...
4:05
ReplyDeleteYor're the joke here.
Everyone starts equally.
Your destiny is the some of your lifes choices and you can't change that.
Libtards want to punish success and reward stupidity and laziness because it gets them votes. Plain and simple
Wah,wah,wah...
ReplyDeleteGOP reps need to pass their spending cuts in the House & send them to the Senate. Do not raise the debt ceiling. Let it fall in presbos lap. Any repercussions lay the blame on the Dems and presbo where it belongs.
ReplyDeleteGee 4:05, who do you think is ultimately injured by raising taxes on those who create jobs and build wealth? The middle/working class citizens are the ones who ultimately pay the price. When taxes are raised on the businesses and wealthy, they pass on the increase to the consumer (middle class). So prices increase leaving the middle class with less money. In addition, if regulations and taxes become a burden on business, they won't hire as many people or they may cut jobs in order to maintain profitability. So, once again the middle class lose again as jobs are cut or not expanded. You can play the class warfare game and raise taxes on the rich and over-regulate corporations that are profitable if you want. Just know that ultimately you will be hurting the middle/working class.
ReplyDeleteTypical Democrat strategy: Blame the rich and try to scare old people or parents of children. Remember in the 90's Republicans were going to be starving children? Now they are going to hurt old folks who need those SS checks to survive. Of course it is the fault of people who work hard, educate themselves, and make a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteso desiring to make more money is greed? my parents didnt go to college, but they and i both sacrificed a LOT to go to college. I made it cause i WORKED hard, not because my parents were poor or rich (poor btw) and then I get out of college by WORKING HARD and got my job and I am doing well enough. I have surpassed my parents, not because of Greed, but because of love, desire and determination. take your liberal, feel sorry for me attitude, and shove it. people have EVERY opportunity to help themselves, and minorities have EVEN more opportunity, Affirm Action, minority scholarship, wake up. the opportunity is there if you EARN IT.
ReplyDeleteand one more note about taxes, if you tax the EVIL rich (who sign most peoples paychecks) will take their jobs and go somewhere else. Their responsibility is NOT to provide you with a job, its to provide a product or service and make $ doing so. That is the point of business, if you do not like it, take your lame a$$ to china where they TELL you how to live.
You people who says 80s and 90s this and that. Bill Clinton did not set that up, Ronald Reagan did. Now i will tell you that during "clintons" higher tax era, where we supposedly did sooooooooooo well, the taxes were high on rich and middleclass families alike, but the CAPITAL GAINS (BUSINESS'S MAJOR TAX DRIVER) was Reduced, helping business and therefore helping the economy. When a business gets taxed, who do you think pays it? the consumer, thats YOU. asking rich people to pay more taxes only hurts you. the united states has the highest business tax in the WORLD. big and small companies alike find ways around it because of the way our politicians have set up the system, so in the end, once again, YOU pay the highest taxes in the world.
Agree with last line of 6:16 - Liberals - if they give out more hand outs, then that is more people that will vote for them. you are living in slavery. cant you see?
Jobs have been shifted to other countries as a result of NAFTA. Clinton and the Democratic Congress passed NAFTA in the 90's that opened the door for companies to send jobs to countries like Mexico with cheaper labor. Once again Government thinking they know what is best for corporate America have screwed up the economy. Government spending won't end the depression, Wall Street will end it when they can create jobs without government interference and increased taxes.
ReplyDelete7:21, it might be just me, but it seems like allowing companies the ability to conduct business overseas constitutes free market principles and big gov. getting out of the way. But maybe I'm just crazy.
ReplyDeleteright on 7:21
ReplyDelete4:05 get real. The rich do get richer, but at least they work for it? If your up at 4:05 commenting you probably don't.
12:13, your rant sounds nice when one simply chooses to ignore facts and focus on the partisan fiction.
ReplyDelete"He's killed the economy..."
You must have been asleep when the Dow Jones was crashing and companies were slashing the workforce well before Obama moved into the White House.
"wiped out and upended a whole level of the auto industry"
Really? Ford stock has seen a huge bounce back from their lows and automakers are a big driver of job growth down south right now.
"he's driven the unemployment rate to unprecedented levels"
US citizens, including the rich, are still paying historically low taxes. Ever thought that maybe we haven't seen job growth because of a lack of demand for products and increased productivity?
I wish you hyperpartisan fools on both sides would wake up before this country really goes over the brink!
#1 Yes, Obama's stimulus plan pulled us back from an immediate depression but failed to deliver the economic boost he promised
#2 No, "taxes" are not the reason for high unemployment
#3 This country already had firmly established the current financial trajectory well before Obama showed up
#4 Congress (both parties) is more content with feeding you all BS to keep you riled up and on their side than in governing by the numbers and making the hard decisions that are needed.
LOL@ 7:16, when something good happens it should be a credit to the past Rep. administration's (even though CLinton came in 4 years after Reagan and a small Bush I recession). But when something bad happens (current recession) that started during the previous administration, it's got to be the Dem's fault. LOL
ReplyDelete“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure,” he said. “It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistan...ce from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here.’ Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America’s debt limit.” - Senator Barack Obama, 2006
ReplyDeleteA good example of the axiom "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen."
ReplyDelete8:25 - Might want to check facts: 1. The stock market at the time it was fairly certain McCain would lose, was rebounding from a typical cyclic downturn. Had it maintained that recovery it would, by historical standards be in the 16,000's today rather than the 12,00's. 2. Ford, the only "big three" to refuse stimulus $$, is doing rather well compared to those that did (and wound up becoming part of foreign companies to make payments on their loans. In the meantime low priced vehicles for those of limited means, and used auto parts for garages and body shops became more scarce. Combined many smaller used car dealers, repair shops, and body shops went out of business. Further, most of the cars sold were of overseas brands. 3. People are out of work partly because of lack of demand. That is because there are fewer people working because the uncertainty of regulations has inspired manufacturers to operate in more business friendly environments like China (the country that also owns most of our debt). Daily there are dozens of container ships unloading goods from China then rushing back empty to get yet another load. With less government intrusion a large percentage of those goods would be made by folks in the USofA desperately seeking employment.
ReplyDeleteThe stimulus plan reversed the recovery that was underway.
Excessive taxes, threats of more taxes, and government over-involvement, are, according to the 88% of small business owners who say they will not be hiring or will be cutting even more jobs, the cause of unemployment. The new credit card bill alone was the cause for $836 Billion to be withdrawn from the economy so those who pay their bills would be burdened by the extra 5% in interest the regulations caused.
The hard decisions that are needed are for government to stop wastefully and needlessly spending money they don't have.