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Subscribe to RSSFrom the beginning of the "fiscal cliff" negotiations, aides from both sides have said that November would be for saber rattling and December would be when a deal is put together between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner with Majority Leader Harry Reid’s blessing.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in a press conference on Thursday attacked President Obama and the White House for not taking firm action in avoiding the so-called "fiscal cliff."
Well, consider comments from Boehner and Reid today to be the November saber rattling reporters were warned about.
In his weekly press conference Boehner called out Obama and the Democrats.
"The president has warned us about the dangers of going over the fiscal cliff, but his actions have not matched his public statements,” said Boehner, who acknowledged speaking with the president Wednesday night and called it “very nice” but “direct.” “Members of his own party seem quite comfortable sending the economy over the fiscal cliff."
Boehner said that no “substantive process had been made over the last two weeks” and that he was “disappointed” with the current state of the fiscal cliff negotiations. He also chided Democrats for not offering, he says, serious spending cuts in exchange for his promise of some increased revenue.
Republican leaders say they've put revenues on the table, but are waiting on President Barack Obama to give, and offer something up on ballooning federal retirement programs like Medicare. Fortune Magazine's Carol Loomis discusses.
Speaking later in the day, Reid took this blunt shot at Boehner: “I don’t understand his brain.”
Reid called for Republicans to make “a serious offer” and indicated that Democrats would not act until they heard Republican demands on cuts to entitlements.
Along with raising tax rates, entitlements are also a major sticking point in the negotiations. Neither side wants to be the first to put their fingerprints on any specific entitlement cuts due to the risk of a major public backlash from seniors.
Asked by NBC News what specific cuts to entitlements the GOP would like to see, Boehner pointed to previous budgets passed by the House GOP and rejected by Democrats, but he declined to be precise in what he wanted out of these negotiations.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio gestures as he speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, after private talks with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the fiscal cliff negotiations.
“It's been very clear over the last year and half,” Boehner contended. “I've spoken to the president about many of them. If you look at our budget, where we outline very specific proposals that we passed in last year's budget and the budget before, we know what the menu is; we don't know what the White House is willing to do to get serious about our debt crisis."
Boehner dismissed an assertion that the talks had broken down, but his tone was far from optimistic. Wall Street is hoping to see a deal reached, is paying close attention, and both sides are acutely aware of that.
In what could be another potential headache for the White House, Boehner did not back down on his 2011 position regarding raising the nation’s debt limit, saying, “Any increase in the debt limit must be accompanied by spending cuts."
White House Spokesman Jay Carney said he was “surprised” by Boehner’s debt limit comments.
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You would think.. Before the election, that both parties and congress would of been working on a solution. Nope congress took a vacation, waited on the election and now nothing is getting done..
they were too busy campaigning for re-election. Go see Harry Reid's comments in September. "The Doors are closed until Nov 7th.
That was after the republicon House left town.
So obama's plan is for eight days worth of revenue? Can the liberal sheeple tell me how that wlil reduce the deficit and the debt. How will that help the economy?
Did the GOP not notice that they lost seats in the House?
I hope they keep behaving this way, then we won't have to deal with them an longer.
newsflash--they are already done. You libbies have seen to that. Well done, your day of owning it is fast approaching! SMILE and enjoy!
I'm a fiscally conservative business owner, and I have been advocating a tax increase for 12 years now. I reinvest in my company, I hire people. What do you do?
That is exactly what is needed. Reinvesting in your business. Low taxes only makes tax shelters attractive while high taxes makes reinvestment attractive.
We are a nation of ONE, not a Nation of Rich or a Nation of Poor, we all have a stake in the decisions of Congress. Either raise taxes on all and cut all entitlements or change the tax code for all who pay taxes and re-adjust who will now be eligible for entitlements under the new tax code.
agreed, there has to be a balance of both or it will just not work. Simple Math.
You should have spoken up in 2001 and 2003 when the 1% got 95%
of all tax breaks and plunged us into massive deficit spending.
Boehner and the GOP are still suffering with delusions of adequacy and they need to get off the dime and start doing what's right for the economy and quit their childish brinksmanship. What is needed is not increased revenue so much as reduced spending on things like the LARGEST defense budget in the free world and Cadillac retirements and health insurance for retired Senators and Congressmen!
Repubs rant about the poor and middle-class "entitlements" but never mention the corporate entitlements that are so much more.
Or how about cutting out entitlements for wall street, or big oil, or defense contractors...what about cutting DOD, which everyone agrees is bloated and wasteful.
Nope Repubs only want to focus on poor and middle-class, and elderly entitlements.
Boehner has been warned by Grover thar he will give his House leadership job to that mouse Cantor if he dares to talk about raising rates on the rich. Period. Grover is worried that if he doesnt please his one percent masters he may have to get a real job himself and maybe become a taxpayer for the first time in his life. Grover wont put up with having to WORK for a living.
Fascinating talking points. As a "small business owner" I find it somewhat whimsical that people don't get how things work.
If I have an income above "250" that means I'm taking that much per year OUT of my business, not re-investing it. I'm not creating jobs, I'm being a cash happy glutton. Now, If I get a higher tax rate on income above that, I'm much more likely to use that money to reinvest back into my business, like hiring more...
Taxing the gluttons will create jobs, not destroy them.
Look at history, think, learn!
It's time to stop feeding gluttons and employ the people!
Kudos!!! Very well said and very logical ... the problem is that the "gluttons", feeding their insatiable "more" (never enough) appetite take some of the government protected ("conservative" policies) excess and use it to support their "puppet" politicians, who then work deligently to serve the "gluttons" interests and together propagandize (without conscience) the public.
I could have been "super rich" but then I would have more cars than I could use, moldy bread in my cupboard, and not as many friends.
I don't need more than I can use, I get no joy from that. I do enjoy employing people, teaching people, helping people. I get a better community for my actions.
If I were to be a wastrel, my life would be more money rich, but less life rich.
Boehner has no backbone, he barely possesses an exoskeleton. It seems pretty clear that he's only in the game for his own good and to hell with the 98% of us.
What a wuss.
He has a strong backbone but it is only for pursuing his political ambitions and he identifies being subservient to "the money" as best serving those interests, leaving the people just to be conned.
Well. He does pursue that tan with a passion.
Raise taxes on the rich. Now we have 3% of the money needed to close the deficit, to say nothing of addressing the 16Trillion balance. What now, Mr. president? Enough with the brinksmanship! Democrat majority, put together a plan already and stop blaming everything on Mr. Boehner (bay-ner) and Cantor.
None of them really have the baII$ to do what needs to be done.Especially Boehner. The gang leader of the TP, Grover has warned Boehner that he will give his House leadership job to that mouse Cantor if he dares to talk about raising rates on the rich. Period. Grover is worried that if he doesnt please his one percent masters he may have to get a real job himself and maybe become a taxpayer for the first time in his life. Grover wont put up with having to WORK for a living
Let the tax rates go back to where they were in 2000. Anything short of that is a bandaid. The right will be happy as more people will pay taxes and the left will be happy that the rich are paying more. Treat ALL income as income. Cut defense as we are not fighting 2 wars anymore. Raise the retirement age.
guy,....everything that you listed is a realistic common-sense approach. Raise SS and Medicare eligiblity to 68 for people under 55 and 70 for people under 40. Some combination of all of the points you mentioned above would spare any one program from being decimated and spread the pain over a wider area. This, I believe would be the best approach. Good work. Now if two guys on the internet can figure it out, 535 Congressman should have something hammered out already!
I want to point out , the taxpayer protection pledge was intended to shield all Americans from any tax increases, not just the top 1%.
Im 58 and think they need to raise the retirement age for people under 62. Really like getting to 70 for people under 40. People can still retire early but take the lower payments if they want to collect right away.
We are realists and I especially hate the burden we are passing along to my kids and grandkids. I have told my children to please dont depend on getting SS in 30-40 years. Save. Pay off the mortgage. ect....
I strongly believe that the last 30 years of trickle down have mainly benefited the rich. The income disparity is getting ever wider between the top and the middle class.
Why should we raise the retirement age? The average American is not living any longer. Only the very rich are living longer. Raising the retirement age just means more people will be on welfare as our bodies break down and we can not work any longer.
miklkit,.......actuarial studies point to a steady gain in the average life expectancy between people living now and people living 75 years ago when the illustrious socialist FDR first instituted the safety nets and social security. That is, unless you spend most of your life overweight, smoking, doing drugs and being a couch potatoe while stuffing junkfood down your throat.
Avg life expectancy in 1935: 65 years. This was the determinant in being able to draw SS ,
Avg life expectancy today; 78-81 years depending on gender or what actuarial table you are reading.
What "disappoints" Boehner is that the Democrats just won't cave in. He has constantly demonstrated his stubborn and arrogant performance, repeatedly as he has clearly established that he puts his political ambitions above all else, at any cost (to the people), even now as he resists the ground-swell of pressure from within his own party to compromise. What the GOP ignores and doesn't want getting any attention is that when the multiple Bush Tax Cuts were implemented, they disproportionately heavily favored the very wealthy - which indicates they were out of line and poorly conceived from the start, satisfying only political purposes rather than fairness, besides then resulting in no benefit for the overall economy. And now they stubbornly want to protect them rationalizing, with the proof saying the opposite, that they will help the economy and create jobs. There seems no doubt that these guys are just “puppets” for “the money” their strong supporters and masters, without any real conscience or concern for the people.
Don't raise the taxes on the top 2% by only a few percentage points... Double their tax rate. The super rich are not the job creators. If we let them keep their low rates not one of them is going to go out and hire a bunch of workers he doesn't need to hire. No one hires anyone unless they have no other choice. And the only reason they have no other choice is because they no longer can keep up with demand for their product or service. Double the tax rates on the super rich and cut taxes on the working class by the same amount. The working class will go out and buy a new car (give a tax credit for a Chevy), or a new fridge, or a new stove, or a new dishwasher, or even just Christmas presents for their kids. But they will spend the money and force the super rich who just had his taxes doubled to hire a new worker to keep up with the increase in demand for his product.
But thinking that the Super Rich are going to say to themselves "I got to keep my tax cut so I'm going to hire lots of people I don't need" is the kind of foolish nonsense only FOX News watchers and Rush Limbaugh listeners could fall for.
If Rush Limbaugh gets to keep his low rate, how many jobs will he create that he can't afford to create now? Zero? The super rich are not the job creators. The consumers are the job creators.
Raising taxes on the rich will give them a reason to hire more people, invest in local business. How many cars can you really drive at one time? How many homes can one live in?
record number of filibusters used by republicans since 2007 to stop every kind of legislation. why would a political party use a filibuster instead of voting NO on a bill. because they know if they are on record voting NO to common sense bills that people in the U.S. will kick them out. filibusters allow republicans to block legislation to getting to the voting process so they dont have to be on record saying no to legislation. write your congressman demand they end filibustering and ask them to vote. if you dont agree with the legislation and elected someone that said they would vote NO make them vote! dont let your representatives get off the hook for what you voted them into office for. stalling tactics are killing this country MAKE THEM VOTE! write them and demand it!
He is going in the history books as the worst speaker of the house ever. His opinion lacks substance.
You must have been asleep when Pelosi was speaker!!!! All she was was was a yes person for Obama, a zombie has more brains than she does.
Pelosi is on track to be the most productive speaker of the house in a generation. Can't wait till she takes the reign again. Surely you jest.
I guess that depends on your definition of "productive."
What did Pelosi do? She made the House go back to a 5 day work week! No wonder all of the radical right hates her! Making republicons work??? Why I never..........
I'm a middle class American and I don't think it is fair to pick out a certain class of American and expect them to pay for everyone elses mistake, if they want to raise taxes then raise them on everyone, me included!!!!
I agree. So tired of the class warfare. It is really old. We all live in this great Country so pay your dues. If memory serves me right, the only 2 things you HAVE to do in life is pay taxes and die.
Wrong. There is a whole lot more to do than pay taxes and die. Where were you guys when Bush gave massive tax breaks to the very wealthiest and massive prescriptions drug benefits to Big Pharma then went to CPAC like a hero and told them that the super rich were his base.
Class warfare will stop when the top income earners finally pay an equal or greater percentage of all income.
plsthink90, evidently not everyone HAS to pay taxes. Some of them even get "refunds" after not paying anything.
RAHK1969--last time I checked they already pay more. So what is that going to solve in this Country? We will now have a balanced budget, what?? Clear up the trillions in debt?? Help me out.
Martinbecker--I was not a Bush fan either.
No the aristocracy do not pay more. They own 90% of the wealth and do not pay all of the income tax and income tax is only 42% of the government's income. So the aristocracy pay maybe 36% of the total.
Payroll taxes are payed by us working Americans and it is 40% of the total. So the 50% of Americans that own 2.5% of the wealth are paying 30% of the taxes.
And we have been getting poorer for 30 years while paying more taxes.
inequality-p25_averagehouseholdincom.png (PNG Image, 631x346 pixels)
What are the federal government's sources of revenue?
I see the poker hand the Dems are playing. They don't want to come forth with spending cuts and now want the spending cuts to come from the R's so they can be the bad guy for cutting. How stupid are the Dems? THEY need to come to the table for their side of the bargain. I hope the Republicans stand their ground on this and force the Dems to contribute to the process. This cliff may be the only solution for our nation to cut spending because it does not sound like the Dems aren't going to cut anything.
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. Congress is one lazy horse. They should pas all acceptable elements and send them to the president. They make the laws and not the president. The more laws they send the more they can fix things because sooner or later the president will sign something they send him.
He's surprised at the lack of progress? You mean, because democrats get everything they want simply by waiting one month and doing nothing? I think The Speaker needs to realize that he doesn't have a leg to stand on, and better offer some great tax brackets, or he will end up with nothing in terms of entitlement reform.
Please help me understand something here, call me the dummy in the crowd. Deficit is in the tank, we need to raise taxes to address spending and the budget, the Rep tax cuts are approaching sunset, right? Obama can sit back and do nothing, and achieve what he needs, right? More taxes to offset spending, which is also directed towards the deficit, right? And the Rep's are complaining, and blaming Dem's because their own tax cuts are coming to a close, right? Looks like a big circle jerk by the Rep's. Dem's can sit back and don't have to do anything and let the Rep's beat on their chests all day. In the end the Dem's win. In the end the Rep's will say we're all going to Heck, and blame Obama, on their own failure, right?
"Boehner 'disappointed' by lack of 'substantive progress' on fiscal cliff talks"
He should expect this from the hard-communists. The communists want to go over the fiscal cliff so the government can grab more power.
Boehner better postpone his golfing/drinking/smoking trip to Naples, FL & sit down with the House, Senate, & the President and start TALKING!
All this BS from the Republicans-------(I am an Independent)--- and having owned five small companies in the aerospace industry, I can tell you that the ONLY thing that determined if I hired or laid off workers was the number of jobs coming in to the plant--NOT whether my personal taxes increased or decreased 20%!!!
You can lead a horse to water (Congress) but you can't make him drink. The republicans did lose the election as far as I know.
I'm a Dem, and I'm rich. I hire people, not build car elevators or buy excess homes. I contribute. What do you do?
Are you a patriot? Do you give till it hurts?
The teabaggers won't answer you because they can't comprehend economics. They only understand greedy. They worship the super rich (don't ask me why). When Warren Buffet explains the reality of economics and money like you do they turn and run.