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Subscribe to RSSUSA Today on Obama’s “fiscal cliff campaigning”: “These are the latest steps in an all-out political blitz to sell Obama's budget plans.”
“President Barack Obama is introducing a new hashtag to the fiscal cliff debate,” AP writes. “The White House plans to promote (hashtag)My2K on Twitter and other social media — a reference to the estimated $2,200 tax increase that a typical middle-class family of four would see if the Bush tax cuts expire.”
Obama’s inauguration of Jan. 21st will be only the seventh time it’s happened in history that Jan. 20th of an inauguration year fell on a Sunday.
National Journal notes how business leaders meeting with the president are realizing that they “feel just as much pressure [as Obama] to make things right.” Said Stan Collender, a former Democratic staffer on the House and Senate budget committees: “They made a big bet, and they lost,” “And now they have to, if not grovel, make it clear they’ll work with the administration.”
More: “There are signs they already have. The business-backed group Fix The Debt, an organization ostensibly pushing for both sides to strike a grand bargain to reduce the country’s deficit, has drawn conservative ire for, in their opinion, focusing less on entitlement reform and more on raising taxes. Some observers believe the tilt, however slight, is part of an implicit effort to extend an olive branch toward Obama – and the impetus for a Wednesday meeting between House GOP leaders and the group.”
In other fiscal cliff news… “Republican Rep. Tom Cole urged colleagues in a private session Tuesday to vote to extend the Bush tax rates for all but the highest earners before the end of the year — and to battle over the rest later,” Politico’s Jonathan Allen writes, adding, “At a meeting of the House GOP whip team earlier in the day, he made the case that Republicans would strengthen their position by joining hands with President Barack Obama now to give most taxpayers what he calls ‘an early Christmas present’ of ensuring their taxes don’t go up on Jan. 1. Cole’s position is striking because he’s hardly a ‘squish’ — Norquist’s term for a weak-kneed lawmaker — when it comes to Republican orthodoxy. Cole served as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee and in other official posts within the party. He might also provide cover for other Republicans looking to make an agreement to avoid a sharp fall off the so-called fiscal cliff.”
National Journal: “The Kumbaya rhetoric and photo-ops between President Obama and congressional leaders surrounding the so-called fiscal cliff are starting to wear thin. … For all of the optimism surrounding the initial meetings between leaders, very little progress has been made….”
Politico: “This is the public relations phase of the latest fiscal showdown in Washington, where direct engagement is no longer viewed as the optimal route to reaching a deal. As Wall Street shudders and Congress once again risks looking feckless in the face of crisis, both sides are locked in a battle to win over key interest groups — and the public.”
Roll Call: “Democratic leaders emboldened by this year’s electoral victories are driving a hard bargain on a potential deficit reduction package, pushing to raise taxes significantly in a short time period, while resisting major spending cuts as part of an agreement during the lame-duck session.”
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Don't underestimate the wrath of the middle class if our taxes go up!
There is a price to pay for republican that don't at least attempt to find middle ground with the president. What President Obama has offered is a reasonable and balanced approach to get spending under control and the republicans had better heed the warning given in the last election.
Another view is so what, if the country does go over the so called fiscal cliff what is the danger of returning to Clinton era tax levels. It seems to me that Clinton has been the only successful president since Eisenhower. If raising taxes means a return to the prosperity of Clinton it could be a good thing.
It's a two way street. Obama is the least flexible President in history.
With all due respect to President Clinton, it was on his watch that the Glass-Steagal Act was repealed allowing banks to engage in all manner of risky and stupid investments and forgetting the lessons of the Great Depression. Glass-Steagll was enacted in 1933 to require banks to behave like banks and not investment brokerage houses.
The resulting free-for-all generated trillions of dollars of unsecured debt, daily bank failures, huge paper profits for some and even larger real profits for the few. Then came the reality of 2007 and 2008 for which we will be suffering for years if not decades.
The repeal of Glass-Steagall plus two unfunded wars paid with the nation's credit card created a witches brew.
opics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/g/glass_steagall_act_1933/index.html
The witches brew of which you speak has only been exasperated by the fiscal policies of the last four years. The only answer for the problem from the left is to raise taxes. How about cut some spending? That is what we average Joes do when revenue is not sufficient.
Blamo, apparently you haven't been paying attention. First, it is Congress that authorizes spending bills and it is Presidents who either sign them or veto them. Second, our economy has morphed from a manufacturing base to a consumer base. If consumers stop purchasing, our whole economy collapses. Third, while the nation rebuilds its manufacturing base by encouraging domestic production and penalizing off shore production we must keep the consumer base active and the best way to do that is to keep tax levels for the middle class reasonably low. Third, and most importantly, the upper income segment has not chosen to reinvest in the domestic economy and have preferred to use their wealth elsewhere in global markets; a trend that has been ongoing for nearly twenty years. Certain changes to the federal tax code similar to the Tax Reform Act of 1986 will benefit domestic production markedly.
As for cutting spending, I trust you are aware that the amount of defense spending by the United States is more than the total defense spending of the next ten highest national defense budgets in the world combined!
You are also probably aware that if the United States were to adopt a single payer medical coverage system, as is done in every other industrialized nation in the world, Medicare costs could be reduced by 20-25% overnight.
Subsidies to industries that , by their own 10-K filings indicate, do not need subsidies would also result in substantial spending reductions.
And finally, history clearly shows that targeted federal spending on infrastructure such as roads and bridges not only increases employment and subsequent increases in federal income tax payments, such spending also results in improvements that pay dividends for decades.
Why are the GOP/RNC "Hoodlum's On The Hill" still 'burying' a very important piece of tax legislation? The answer is very simple America. On Janruary 20, 2009 the GOP/Tea Beggers 'conspired' to do just that. "Goofy Grover" is a very weak minded individual, and is a "Political Coward." Not only does he sound like a total 'wimp.' He looks very insecure, indecisive, and very unethical. "Goofy Grover" likes to hide behind his Tax Pledge, and now expects the GOP/RNC "Zombies" to take the heat. "Goofy Grover" is an "Economic Bully" that loves to attack those that are unable to economically defend themselves. Now this very "Cognitively Disabled" individual now states that his "Tax Pledge" is not his. Really?? Research proves that "Goofy Grover" took total "Economic Pride" in his Tax Pledge.
Cole realizes that if we go over the cliff the Republicans will be totally the blame and he is looking for ways to save some face in this whole thing. By siding with the President now the Republicans can claim to have been team players in a bi-partisan effort to help the middle income earners without doing much damage to the high rollers at the same time. Putting off the ultimate discussion for the new Congress is going to get some of the fleas off the elephant's back too. Although in the end they will need to compromise more it will be far less embarassing and painful to the GOPers if they go along now and try to fight later. With more Democrats in the new Congress and the President's bully pulpit continuing for four more years it appears we are truly on the road to recovery after all.
We want our suffering to stop. Please stop playing politics and campaigning and please start to compromise on spending so that we can stop suffering. Millions of us are hurting. and have been hurting for years now. We are losing houses, losing wives, husbands and families. we nee help not more talk and delays in Washington. You are as much as a obstacle in getting the economy back on track as the Republican are. Now get out there and serve US not your or agenda. We no longer have the time, desire and fortitude for political games. We need spending cuts as much as revenues, maybe even more so, but we need it now. Stop traveling around and talk and clear things up. We need policies to curb spending as badly as we need revenue. Jobs create revenue and we need jobs. We are suffering. It is time to stop making us suffer while you play politics. Get in there and speak to the democrats an republican leaders alike and don't come out to see us, the public, on the campaign trail again, until you work out a deal that satisfies us all. But we are tired and hungry and going homeless. Don't talk to us, talk to the House and Senate.
WE ARE SUFFERING. PLEASE LEAD TO GET THINGS OUR FISCAL POLICIES STRAIGHTEN OUT AND DO IT NOW.
I believe that the president has put together a plan and if we stick to the new tax plan that we all would benefit from it and avoid the fiscal cliff. He and other politicians has advise the other parties how important this is and that we need to act now. Please listen to the people who put you in office. Let the bill pass.
Thankyou