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Ear to the Ground

Obama Thinks Big, Republicans Balk in Deficit Talks

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Posted on Jul 10, 2011
Flickr / SpeakerBoehner

Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama: not seeing eye to eye on taming the deficit.

No visible progress was made during deficit talks Sunday in which President Barack Obama failed to persuade House Republicans to support $4 trillion in cuts over the next 10 years.

It appears Obama wants a large-scale agreement—with cuts to Medicare and other entitlement programs—so he can claim responsibility for undoing years of deficit spending. It’s safe to assume Republicans want to deny him that distinction.

On the same day, Christine Lagarde, the new head of the International Monetary Fund, urged U.S. lawmakers to raise the debt ceiling before the deadline, warning that a default would increase international interest rates and cripple the global stock market. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner echoed her concern, saying that a failure to reach an agreement would carry grave consequences, especially for the 55 million Americans who rely on Social Security checks each month. —ARK

The New York Times:

President Obama tried on Sunday to revive the chances for a sweeping budget agreement to reduce the nation’s deficit and repair its perilous finances, but Congressional Republicans continued to balk, insisting on a more modest deal to avert a default on the national debt.

Mr. Obama, meeting with leaders from both parties at the White House, bluntly challenged Republicans a day after Speaker John A. Boehner pulled back from a far-reaching agreement aimed at saving as much as $4 trillion over 10 years, officials briefed on the negotiations said. The meeting ended after an hour and 15 minutes with little progress, but the two sides agreed to resume talking Monday, and every day after that, until a deal is done.

... Mr. Obama is pushing for a bigger deal on the argument that it will, paradoxically, be easier for Democrats and Republicans to sell to their rank and file, because they could present it as a historic effort to begin undoing years of deficit spending.

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By Lew Ciefer, July 12, 2011 at 7:21 am Link to this comment

Won’t be long now before the flaccid and spineless Orange organism drops his pants and cries before the nation.

Report this

By omop, July 12, 2011 at 6:03 am Link to this comment

Given who are the real decision makers read link below is this whole
issue politically solvable?

The real owners of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Reserve System
are:

a) Rothschild Banks of London and Berlin;
b) Lazard Brothers Bank of Paris;
c) Israel Moses Seif Banks of Italy;
d) Warburg Bank of Hamburg and Amsterdam;
e) Lehman Brothers Bank of New York;
f) Kuhn, Loeb Bank of New York;
g) Chase Manhattan Bank of New York;
h) Goldman Sachs Bank of New York; and
i) Approximately three hundred people, known to each other and/or
relations of the “owners,” who hold stock in the Federal Reserve System.
They comprise an interlocking, International Banking Cartel of wealth
beyond comprehension.

The Federal Reserve meet behind closed doors and has more power
than the Congress and President of the United States; and to top that
off, these men who control America through their financial
manipulation are not even responsible to the public nor to Congress
and has repeatedly shown that it is under the control of the
International Jewish Bankers, by raising the discount rate (a deliberate
act to destroy small business) they have been able to bring about the
depressions which have devastated the American Farmer and Ranchers
since the time this Evil Satanic Act was passed.
http://100777.com/doc/17

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By Sho'Nuff, July 11, 2011 at 4:52 pm Link to this comment

Assuming, arguendo, that the national deficit was real and the global economy
wasn’t just one big hustle, huge spending cuts combined with more tax revenue
seems like a sensible solution to a deficit problem. The fact that Republicans
aren’t embracing Obama’s proposal just goes to show us that they really don’t care
about deficit reduction, but rather are more concerned with cuts; cuts in social
welfare, and cuts in taxes for the wealthy.  Meanwhile, that clown Obama,
continues his masterful performance of not completely alienating his liberal
supporters while at the same time kissing up to his corporate masters.

Report this

By felicity, July 11, 2011 at 10:30 am Link to this comment

I just want one Republican - Cantor? - to step up to
the media mikes and justify cutting the $14,000/year
income of a 65-year old American woman as being a much
better way to balance the budget than cutting the $3
billion/year income of a hedge funder.  And then I want
him to tell us how many people the hedge funder
directly employs.

Report this

By Bones, July 11, 2011 at 6:30 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

After trillions given to the fraudsters on Wall St and to the Banksters.  After multi-war that are illegal.  So now Mr. O wants to cut grandma’s and grandpa’s health care and food allowance.

Funny how Mr. O sang and dance to an entirely different tune as a candidate.

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By Jim Yell, July 11, 2011 at 5:40 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

I believe we have seen this play before. Obama starts dropping the public interest in a move for bipartisanship and the Republicans dance away from the table. Result Obama offers them more than they asked for and then the Republicans agree and a brilliant victory is announced by the White House and the rest of the country is pushed further down into the muck. It is a win for the Republicans as they get what they want and get to blame the unpopular action on the President. Is he dense, or what?

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By GW=MCHammered, July 11, 2011 at 5:13 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

So much for limited taxes on corporations and the rich stimulating business, hiring and the economy:

Economy Faces a Jolt as Benefit Checks Run Out
An extraordinary amount of personal income is coming directly from the government. Close to $2 of every $10 that went into Americans’ wallets last year were payments like jobless benefits, food stamps, Social Security and disability, according to an analysis by Moody’s Analytics.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/business/economy/as-government-aid-fades-so-may-the-recovery.html

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By Pacrat, July 11, 2011 at 4:52 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Will Obama ever consult the democrats or is he limited to negotiating only with his fellow republicans?

Even tho the dems are gutless and disorganized, at least they have the people and not the corporations at heart!

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Not One More!'s avatar

By Not One More!, July 11, 2011 at 12:15 am Link to this comment

End the war, stop bailing out corporations that are selling out our countries, and start voting for third party independent candidates. Otherwise this madness will continue. And it won’t happen while the democrats continue to get the “progressive’s” vote.

http://www.NotOneMore.US

“I’d rather vote for what I want and not get it than vote for what I don’t want, and get it.” - Eugene Debs

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By Rodney, July 10, 2011 at 11:12 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

It’s impossible to negotiate with someone who personally hate you so much that they rather America go down in flames in hopes that you get blamed than do what’s good for the country. As long as the rich doesn’t suffer that’s what Obama has to negotiate with. The republicans don’t care about jobs, unless it’s the slave wage jobs where they make their real money overseas. A crashed economy is what they want. That way they can eliminate all assistance to the poor the elderly.Gut Social Security, medicare, all monies to education, health, and housing. They have come to take their country back. Back to 1860!

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