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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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Republicans are wrong about everything.
With that being said we need to raise taxes on the wealthy to 39% or more. They wealthy already having money will increase their spending on growth to offset the losses in taxes. That spending will not only jumpstart the economy it will drop the unemployment rate.
I'm guessing your economics teacher was the same as your grammar teacher. Because that statement is as inaccurate as it is hard to read.
hey angry......whose money is it????......the money does not belong to obama or the federal government....it belongs to the people who EARNED it........
You have to love it. Before the votes had finished being totaled and immediately after it was obvious Obama won re-election Boehner called a press conference to announce his intention to block any negotiations. Now he gets up on his hind legs and wails about the lack of progress. It's like someone announcing their intentions to burn down their house and then screaming that someone should do something about the arsonist who burned his house. Just amazing.
block everything and anything coming out of the ideological brain of obama.....
OK, We all at one time or another have had to work with people we do not like !!!!!!!
With saying that , we also have to do our JOB Right !!??
OK, ( MR. Boehner PLEASE DO YOUR JOB) Weather you like it or not.....
BE APART OF THE TEAM !!!!!!!!!
IF I EVER acted as you, My surgeon would have had me out the O.R. Door !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes , I work in the O.R. and weather you like or dislike anyone you need to do your JOB !!!!!!!!!!!
BE A TEAM LEADER THAT SIMPLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!
The fiscal cliff started when Repubs demanded spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. Obama now proposes a mere $400B in back loaded cuts in exchange for the $1.5T+ in extra debt that he was granted and wants an extra $50B to spend this year. Yet somehow, the Boehner is the inflexible one, even though he has clearly signaled that he is willing to incorporate increased revenue in the deal. The posters here have been watching too much MSNBC and spending too little time at USdebtclock dot org
You realize, of course, that Romney didn't promise much more than Obama on the debt issue.
I didn't vote for Romney. His policies were as mathematically challenged as Obama's. I didn't vote for a single Republican or Democrat on my ballot. I honestly believe that 435 randomly selected, well educated non-politicians could run this country far better than the current lot of lawmakers.
Hmmm...the current Congress (which began with the 2010 election) may be the least productive Congress since 1948, in terms of legislation passed.
I suppose that means the Tea Party will think that means they've succeeded.
the TEA PARTY has just begun......
Yes, I would call it a success. Federal laws weren't meant to be passed as some kind of game or competition to see who could get the most. The reason most congresses pass so many laws is that they have to fix the laws from the previous idiot congresses that passed stupid laws that weren't read or thought out and on and on the cycle goes. I think they see it as some kind of job security otherwise the American public may wise up and realize we already have enough Federal laws and don't need as many lawmakers up in D.C. pulling in those nice, big paychecks or may ask them to take a pay cut. Oh wait, yeah I forgot, we the people don't have the authority to do that.
My 8th grade economics teacher also said that demand creates jobs, not tax breaks for millionares and billionares.
P.s. If you are gonna complain about someones grammer don't start the sentence with because.
Maybe cause the ball is in your court Boehner? Get you a$$ to work and quit grand-standing attention whore.
Mister Obsturctionist needs to rethink what the citizens have made clear time and time again. We EXPECT our congress to knock off all of the BS and start doing thier jobs.
Both houses of congress need to knock off all of the BS and start doing their jobs, not just the Repubs.
Jo Jo, "all should be fired......" Is spot on. In my mind this is political play between DEM/REP. I am not sure how we tell these folks to stop the BS and help America once again lead the world. While we play the world laughs.....
We need a 3rd Party so bad.........................
I love this crap..... We attack people for punctuation, spelling, and sentence structure rather than discuss the issue.... What a helpless gaggle we are...
You are all expecting a fairy tale ending.. where a group of challenged individuals get touched by the hand of God and are now enlightened.. makes for good theatre but this is politics.. stupid people elect stupid politicians who by omission or commission do stupid $hit. the jerimandered districts that the a$$hats have created guarantee that it will remain that way for quite some time... Oh how I wish for a little theatrical enlightenment.. Just going through the comments on here I see at least half are low information commentors (kind words) or just plain bat$hit crazy tea-bag Repo-men
Both parties gerrymander when thay have the ability to do it. This is both Repub and Dem issue.
Most people on here need to sit down with your wife or husband in front of a nice fire, take a breath, sip a cocktail and relax for f***sake! I'm 42, lived through democrat and republican presidents, d & r houses and senates and every type of politician there is. Ive had up years and down years, high taxes and low taxes, good economies and bad ones. Thought I was a democrat, thought I was a republican and argued for both sides. I am doing better than I was 4 years ago, alot better, but it's not because of any man but myself; it was the same in my down years. Taxes may go up, stay the same, go down. Obamacare may suck, it may be great; Obama may be a great person or he may be an a**hole, unless you are part of his inner circle you don't know any better than I do. I do know one thing: No matter who is president, speaker of the house or secetary of state; no matter if republican or democrats get their way, if taxes go up, social security dissolves, gay people get married or santa clause turns out to be fake- I will still have my wife, my kids, my family and friends, and our lives and our futures will be in OUR hands.
Hahaha...you must live in the woods. The deep, deep woods.
hey mike...i like your sentiment.......eventually, if these aholes aren't stopped they will interfere in your life....
Stop ALL FOREIGN AID NOW.....The government is cutting the throats of US citizens....The multy rich politicians don't care who has to pay for it....they have their millions and investments they can push through under their smokescreen. Billions upon billions to foreign countries and no one really knows what happens to it.
Hey....Obama and your croonies....who pays for your wages and living expenses.....You want to take more and more of our monies to give to other countries and leave us citizens in the dust. THIS MUST STOP SOMEWHERE...AND THE SOONER THE BETTER.....who caused this so called fiscal cliff.....WASHINGTON ......AND POLITICIANS WHO DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYONE BUT THEMSELVES.
Use the billions and billions being given in aid and buyouts to other countries and GET THE USA BACK ON IT'S FEET. YOU CAN'T EVEN SUPPORT THE USA LET ALONE ALL THE OTHER COUNTRIES....AND THE UN....THAT'S ANOTHER PROBLEM.
The foreign aid and U.N. expenses are a small percentage of the total federal budget. In fact, as a percentage of their GDP's other advanced industrial economies give more than we do.
Plus, much of "foreign aid" have clauses attached that require the money be spent buying U.S. products, so the money gets recirculated and becomes another "gift" to corporations.
Per Bloomberg Business News October 2012:
In 2010, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the U.S. gave about $30 billion in aid, or about 0.2 percent of U.S. gross domestic product. In that year, the GDP of low- and middle-income countries was a little more than $20 trillion at market prices, according to the World Bank. That means U.S. aid was equivalent to about 0.15 percent of developing-country GDP. What’s more, the huge majority of that development assistance was actually spent in the U.S.—buying consulting services, agricultural produce, and other goods from American firms. Expressed as a percentage of national incomes, the real benefit to developing countries from U.S. aid was considerably less than even the rather pathetic headline number sugges
Has anyone in the Republican brain trust yet figured it out that if no deal is made, everyone's taxes will go up for earnings made in 2013 and will then file their tax returns by April 2014, just seven months before the next General Election? If Boehner can't read the tea leaves, it will be a very disturbing election for Republicans - again.
That's exactly what the Democrats are hoping for ... I bet the Dems don't budge on anything.
I hope we go off the cliff. I am so tired of hearing all this BS on taxing the rich which will only fund the government for like 9 days. Cut the spending. Cut SS, Medicare and Defense and raise taxes on Everyone... This is everyone's problem and just taxing the rich will NOT cut it
Phuck it. Raise the taxes on everybody. Keep the spending up. Let the libs crash the country.
The conservatives built this country from scratch once before...we can do it again.
boehner shouldn't be disappointed....obama has no substance...just never-ending bullshiat and smoke and mirrors.....
Besides...why are the Dems crying...they want all our money to begin with.
My money (whats left of it) bets the Dems (who never cave in) won't deal out the rich tax...the Pubs won't renege on the tax deal and then the Dems win HUGE:
more taxes from all...
paint the Pubs as the bad guys...
spend all the taxes raised short term for the re-election process (money laundries to Solyndra) to keep the Dem elites in power.
Its a Win-Win-Win for the Socialist'
Republican are wrong about everything.
I see some like Bolog are still trying to rewrite history, again.
The problem with you Libs, Angry, is that you DONT know history (like what our Founding Fathers principles were) or economics. Why dont you debate those points on their merit instead of making stupid, hateful remarks about Repubs?
The Dems playbook: dont come up with any substantive cuts or action, then when Repubs dont agree, the Dems call the Repubs obstructionist.
Obama needs to show leadership and come up with a solution for the problem with entitlement spending. They are over 40% of our expenditures but there is no plan to reduce them, the Dems are afraid of losing their constituency so they want to hang that responsibility on the Repubs so they can be blamed for the cuts. Pure non-productive politics by the Dems while the Repubs are trying to get to balancing the budget. Of course, the Dems point the finger at the Repubs while the Dems refuse to come up with any cuts of any substance. Raising taxes on the rich takes care of a few days worth of the budget, all this misdirection about raising taxes on the rich wont get the budget balanced. This scenario was played out before the election and is being played out again. Ridiculous!
Even Romney didn't predict a "balanced budget" until either late or after a second term in office (2020-2022). If Republicans want spending cuts to off set tax increases, they'd better pony up quick and come up with some spending cut proposals of their own.
Hey Alaskan...go buy a beer with your food stamps and have make toast to your intelligence.
Is everybody ready for President Stinky's (BO) tax increases?? Stinks cares as much about the middle class as Harry Reid cares about integrity and honesty! If your taxes go up in January, and Stinks has already said he'll let them (truth is, he'd prefer they do), it'll be Stinky's doing, nobody elses.
What a kwinky-dink - I am also disappointed by Boehner's lack of substantive progress on the fiscal cliff issue. Earth to Boehner & the Republicqan Party: You Are Not In The Driver's Seat! (DUH!) Get a clue for heaven's sake before your old, white bigoted, male chauvinist, christian-extremist, homophobic, intolerant, obsolete, stuck-in-the-mud party diappears altogether, and long before the disappearing act will come a long line of presidential election losses. I've got news for you bone-heads ike Boehner: America elected Obama! America elected the Democrat. COMPROMISE is not a dirty word, (which, if engaged in, will also not send you to hell, unless Grover Norquist is your God!). The Republican Party is in complete disarray, and the old farts calling the shots have their heads stuck up there so far that they think darkness is daylight. The Republican Tent is so small and self-destructive, that Moderate Republicans and Independents not only can't fit in it, they are driven away by the loons who have hijacked it. Moderate Republicans are now Democrats, as their Tea-Bagging crazed usurpers will not tolerate them. Now, in their intransigence, they double-down on their folly... a long list of follies. Brilliant! (Not). As much as they deserve complete irrelevance, and as much as I relish the downfall of this hateful, divisive, insane Republican party, America could really use a two-party system where both participants engage in sane politics where elections are honored and the defeated work together with the winners in a truly bi-partisan fashion to solve the problems rather than vote no on everything and obstruct everything.
Earth to Wolf, according to the Constitution, NOBODY is in the driver's seat, DUH! Just because Obama won the WH doesnt mean Congress has to do what he says. Its called checks and balances. They are co-equal branches of the govt. Besides, the entire House was just re-elected too, they've got their own mandate, put limits on Obama's insane debt increasing spending, like the $5 trillion he's added since elected in '08. Why doesnt Obama show leadership and come up with a plan to reduce spending, not just raise taxes on the rich? His mandate was LEADERSHIP, to LEAD the effort to balance the budget. He hasnt shown any LEADERSHIP yet. Thats why we still have the highest debt in history.
i can tell by your post you are young the spending of obama is the lowest since ike,i guess you don't recognize the name,but nixon was related to him by marriage,i'd say you know that name.
Obviously democrats are not serious about the fiscal cliff. Republicans should stop wasting time negotiating with the a-holes and just start defunding government programs until a balanced budget can be achieved.
Republicans are wrong about everything, and with that FACT, you are wrong too.
The Founding Fathers were progressive, owned slaves, brewed beer and grew hemp.
The conservatives wanted to stay under the rule of the King of England.
Stop trying to rewrite history to suit your agenda.
Once again Angry, your ignorance is showing. I was talking about the Founding Fathers, not the 'conservatives' of the time that wanted to stay with England.
The Founding Fathers stood for LIMITED govt, low/no taxes, self-determination, liberty away from tyranny (strong central govt, like the King). These are their fundamental beliefs which is EVERYTHING that you Libs dont like. What you DO like is OPPOSITE; strong central govt which breeds tyranny, higher taxes, dependence on the govt thru redistribution. The Founding Fathers' fundamentals are also what the Tea Party stands for. So, if you dont like the Tea Party, you dont like the Founding Fathers' principles. You really need to learn our history and economics before you talk about things that are factually incorrect. Not re-writing history, just stating it. If you can refute what I just said, bring on your FACTS, if you can.