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Subscribe to RSSRepublicans should not be surprised at the fiscal proposal they received from the White House last night, White House Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest said, as President Barack Obama has been highlighting the same position on the campaign trail for the past year.
NBC's Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro discuss a week that was largely a repeat of past weeks where the conversation continued to swirl around Susan Rice, the Fiscal Cliff and the post-mortem of the 2012 election.
“I was surprised that they were surprised,” Earnest told reporters traveling on Air Force One for the president’s trip to Hatfield, Pa., where he’ll talk about his tax and budget priorities.
Recommended: Obama proposal sends a message to Republicans
Thursday night, Republicans called the White House’s proposal, submitted by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, “a complete break from reality,” citing the White House’s starting line of $1.6 trillion in additional revenue, which they say is twice as much as what was on the table in 2011.
Earnest said figure reflects the goals of higher taxes on the wealthy that the president articulated on the campaign trail.
“The marker that was presented in the context of the balanced approach deficit reduction the president advocated in the campaign was $1.6 trillion in tax revenue,” he said.
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Josh Earnest said, as President Barack Obama has been highlighting the same position on the campaign trail for the past year.
Bull Sh t !!!! Obama did not lay out any plans after the budget he proposed last year did not receive ANY votes not even one Democrat! Obama's only solution has been throwing money at his voting base and then want to make the wealthy 2% pay for it. BUT if you do the math taxing the wealthy 2% at Obama's proposed rates of their income will produce estimated 100 Billion or so? that won't even make a dent in the 1.5 Trillion annual Deficit. so, the only solution is more taxing of the middle class with taxes disguised as fees like Obamacare which has over 10 fee hikes in it that will directly increase taxes on the middle-class or those making less than 250K a year! Hey all you Liberals, do the math, then lest's talk, you do know how to count don't you?
BS Brent
I think you need to get some facts before you do the math
Conservatives continue to explain their objection to increased taxes for the wealthy by saying you can't tax your way to solvency. This is true. But you can't just cut your way to solvency either. It takes a balanced approach. The middle class are the real job creators because capitalism is a demand economy. If the middle class and consumers have more disposable income, the economy improves, demand improves, job availability to meet demand improves. Cutting welfare, healthcare, unemployment etc removes money from the economy. Keeping tax rates low for those that benefit most also removes money from the economy. If the GOP are serious, where is their serious proposal?
The President has proposed and offered a plan that both raised revenue and cut
spending. We have been dancing around this issue for 4 years. The Bush tax cuts
for the top 2% must go and we need to cut spending by about 4 trillion. It is
the GOP insistence that NO tax rates increase that has blocked a solution. We
all see it now, and the GOP can no longer hide--Do the deal and be done!
Do the math is funny enough.
Republicans are in a tough position. They agree to a deal and get punished by their big money donors. They block a deal and get punished by the voters.
Wood- if Obama was serious he would actually LEAD and start with some needed cuts. Have you seen the Debt Clock l The problem is Obama is a campaigner and a community organizer that has gotten where he is by speeches and promises he could never keep using tax payer dollars the whole time. In 4 years Obama has outspent every prior U S President! He has doubled the deficit in 3.5 years from 8 Trillion to 16 Trillion. A President needs to lead both parties to get the job done. Any reasonable person would say we got to reduce spending and lay that out. The GOP said they would consider tax hikes, but Obama doesn't say a word about spending cuts? With Owebama it is all his way or the highway.... well until he drives us over the cliff!
Brent...you do know that no democrats voted for the senate budget so that it can be brought up again later...Right? Just like a righty to leave out the facts to try an BS people...
"Life is but a stage, and we are all simply players!" Mr Boehner is playing to his caucus and hopes to save face with them by appearing to be negotiating. The deal that will surface will be nearly identical to the one he and the President had nearly 2 years ago. STOP WASTING our time GOP! Do a deal and move on!
2014 can not come soon enough. Ditch mitch and banish bonehead. ( find him an AA meeting! ) These jerks are responsible for the downgrading of the US credit rating, and the fact that the economy is not moving forward any faster than it would have. The rethugs are solely responsible for this fiasco in their power struggle to make President Obama a one term president. Well it didn't work. Your heads are on the chopping block now! The American public soundly beat and rejected robme/lyin ryan and their " visions" of robbing the elderly, children and poor . Bonehead putting lyin ryan on that committee is destructive. Ann Rand's vision of America is not the majority.
Mitch McConnell had it right when he laughed. I did the same. It's a poker move.
We are holding the aces, you need to fold or get the beating of your life come 2014, 2016. GOT IT?
Dems have aces, GOP has a pair of deuces. Great playing poker with you.
Sure Try Reality or your fantasy virtual reality
remember what happened in 2010? even Owebama referred to it as a "Shellacking" a record number or Republicans were voted into Congress to STOP SPENDING. You idiots seem to have Amnesia Congress proposes budgets not Presidents! The people spoke in 2010 but Reid and Obama choose to ignore.
come 2014 another Shellacking! and by then Obamacare will have kicked in and all the idiot voters from 18 to 24 will see their health insurance premiums go up 25%, the majority age group voted Owebama, are clueless about this it is pathetic victims of their liberal college instructors who are leaches of the system along with the Unions!
It isn't 2010 anymore, and and those congressmen ran on a platform of jobs jobs jobs, then fvked their constituents.
100 billion or so. LOL
Let's get on with recovery! Eliminate the debt ceiling, forgive ALL loans, create ($35/hr) jobs by Nationalizing all industry/business, fund all programs 100%, decrease military spending by 2/3 (close the military academies, no more live fire excercises, etc.), increase funding for education and the arts two-fold, raise SS taxes/payouts, raise income taxes to 80-90% for anyone making over 250K, and have a tax on "net" assets of those making more than 80K. Last, nationalize all private 401K/IRA accounts, and have all Republicans step-down effective January 20th, 2013. This is just a brief over-view, many adjustments will be added as the program takes shape.
Now we are talking. LOL
Lets start with you Edd-3534843.
None of us reading this thread needs to take one minute further to understand the logjam in Washington. The caustic bickering among even the most causal of observers on this site is totally out of control. Which is unfortunate because we are all in the same boat.
Taxes are going up. Services are going down. It's a question of who is paying more and who is getting less. All of you out there whining about the rich and their rates need to understand they are paying the bulk of our tax burden. And when they feel the pinch, they spend less and pay less in taxes.
All of you out there expecting something more from the government - better healthcare, greater retirement income security, support for aging parents, longer unemployment benefits - are sadly misinformed. The Brinks truck is not coming. You all are doing more with less.
Whether rich, poor or in-between - what is happening to EVERYONE is that our national quality of life is being eroded. Not just for us, but our kids and grandkids.
So it's probably time to acknowledge that the political caricatures we've all become so accustomed to parading about to justify our respective opinions mean little. These cartoons are merely snapshots of crap provided to us by moronic ideologues to justify impractical political grandstanding.
Life is calling. As a nation, we need to answer. To figure out the difference between what we want and what we need. And then, because we are actually paying for all the "help" the government is now providing to us, we all need to make ourselves a job, get a job from someone else, improve our salaries or work two jobs so that we have a chance to prosper while we pay our debt down. Because doing nothing more, assuredly means less.
Hearing how much all of our elected officials have done, will do, to us, for for us - while we do the heavy lifting to make ends meet and pay down the debt - is subjecting ourselves a joyride we no longer need to take. Better to ignore the noise and get to work. We will then actually get the job done while the political class on both sides of the aisle can tell us how hard they are working to make our lives better.
Shepherd, Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, the GOP are the ones with the rejected ideas, remember
the election? According to polls over 65% of the country that includes republicans, want the tax cut's for the rich to expire and to raise their rates by 3%.... Get over it the GOP is floundering trying to calm the T-party.
SS doesn't add to the debt so not even on the table, and the only cut's to medicare we will go for better not affect the people benefits.
You people need to look up the 2 Santa Clause theory. Get some real facts.
I say both parties are screwing around with our lives!! Knock it off and get serious it is hurting America!! Oh thats right Washington doesn't care!!
marilynne- its not washington but the GOP that has developed a mentality that only they are right regardless of elections. You dont have the highest number of filibusters in US history as we had since 2010 and not relize the Republicans are operating on a total obstructionist policy.
kind of like blaming the rape victim for what she was wearing
Can't we just let the tea-bag nut jobs go over the cliff with Grover? Then we can get on with a useful government for the people by the people.
the sacred cow to the republicans in defense i have worked for that agency for 38 years and can tell you it needs a big enema realistically speaking we could roll back 20 percent of personnel and cut out the major big programs and we would still be safe- we can thank Dick Cheney and Rumsfield for all these no bid multi billon dolar contracts to their friends
It will be like this now up until about the last week then some deal will be made.
I wouldn't be surprised by ANYTHING GOP members of Congress do or say.The GOP caucuses in both Houses are controlled by totally disreputable right wing nuts.Their only notion of compromise is "We dictate the terms & Democrats meekly agree to them". These people are extremists who have less than no interest in representing the average Americans who elected them.The only constituency they're interested in serving is the big money special interests who bought & paid for them long ago.
All this posturing by Republicans is going to be remembered in the next election - they ran up a humongous debt with two wars, and now they don't want anyone to have to pay, particularly since Grover Norquist says so.
Grover Norquist and Karl Rove need to be RUN OUT OF TOWN, Period
Brent: Our Forefathers are rolling over in Their Graves seeing how the GOP conduct Business for the 1%.
Man, the day the money runs out!
Barry and da Moucher will be eating steaks and you liberal voters will start eating your young. Enjoy Barry's victory and beat your chest for now........won't be long before Barry's voters will be sucking wind instead of Uncle Sam's tit and I can't wait to see that day come.
I didn't here you crying when the Economy COLLAPSED BEFORE Obama took office, WHY?
All these nasty comments by the republicans in here well just remember this that what you type on the internet stays on the internet and will follow you for life.
Shiver...
The last 3 of 5 Prez's were Republicans, not counting Obama's term now. Regan, Bush Sr., who wasn't re-elected and Bush Jr. who should have been impeached along with his hanger-ons as a bunch of pathological liars. Only one with sense was Colin Powell. The Bush Tax cuts were supposed to create jobs and stabilize the economy, instead we have a fiscal cliff approaching and the top 1% are wealthier than ever. Now you have a bunch of liars in the Republican Camp that are so beholden to the Corporations that made them wealthy you would think they were scared for their lives. What happened to Regans Trickle down economy? Again made only the top 10% richer than ever. You can't lie about these facts. They are out there to find. Just stay away from the Cable TV Liars and you will get a better understanding that The Republican Party has raped and pillaged this Country for over 30 years. You want to be a supporter of a Party like The Republicans, do it for common sense reasons. Not because your Father or Mother or neighbor is. Stay off TV and do some reading of the Congressional Record, and where the heaviest concentration of benefactors of Defense Money goes. One last thing. John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, Dick Morris, Carl Rove and a host of others have squandored millions if not billions to defeat every Democratic Candidate the last 12 years. Ask yourself where all the money comes from and why do they want to put someone in Office that is worth $100's of millions to a job that pays $400,000. That answer is easily produced if you do a little Political Sherlock Holming.
Lazy ass aro - you confuse the Facts Bush saved us from Al Kaida attacks! he inherited the Dot Com Crash as well as 9/11 and the economy soon soared due to CONFIDENCE which is lacking under the so called leadership of Owebama! no business knows how to plan for next year, they have no idea how much higher their taxes will go, so are they hiring ? NO !!!!
Brent... Bush was warned of a 9/11 type attack and did absolutely nothing...He absolutely did not keep us safer by letting 3000 civilians get killed...
Hey Ninja at getting freebies~
Bush had what 9 mos to learn and make changed prior to 9/11. It was the security in place under Clinton that led to planes into the WTC. Clinto could have killed Bin Laden on several occasions and proven by statements by the George Tenet, CIA director. Clinton did not give the CIA the green light to Kill Bin Laden because he was concerned about "Wag the Dog" and all the anti- war idiots which are the Dem Base. We were safe during the rest of the Bush years here in the USA. Then with Obama, we get Bhengazi??? WTF ?
Hey Brent...I can understand a sister marrying, knuckle dragging, three tooth wonder like yourself. Standing at the bar at the local dive telling all those who will listen how you post political messages on the Internet. Why I'll bet you cozy right up with them there farm animals after a night of imbibing. Leave the Political rhetoric to those that are literate. You know nothing and are embarassing yourself on a World stage.
So many times it seems like the Republicans might be tempering their belligerence and then they just come up with some justification, some created objection to allow their return to non-compromising, to stubbornly refusing to bend and to just continue putting their political positions and serving only "the money" above their responsibility to the people. Obnoxious and then costly for the majority who then just receive more subterfuge to rationalize and justify the same irresponsible partisan positions.
I am a republican but,People, it is all about the perceived power of Boner ( H left out on purpose) Reid and McConnell.
They think they have the power to oppose the will of the people. And then say it is for our own good.
I may not be as educated as my elected officials but I do know what is best for me and mine. And it is not them.
These three men have caused great damage to our country and should be brought up on charges of some kind. They have held the country hostage for at least the last two years.
Let us face a few facts.
1. The rich SOBS will never vote to raise taxes on the rich because they are the rich. Duh! They got rich from inside information ( thought that was illegal) obtained from a position of HONOR. Now aint that a kick. Here is a fact.
THERE IS NO HONOR AMONG THIEVES.
2. We the people elected them. And the fact is we keep re-electing them.
Stop the craziness, vote them out!
Then maybe we can get something done in the last two years of this Presidents term.
I agree completely. And I am better educated than any of them. I am a moderate leaning to the Republicans on economic issues. The theater should be amusing.
you definitely are not a republican if you feel the answer is to raise taxes and do nothing about controlling the spending in this wild spend thrift administration we have in office. Keep taking from those who work and give those who do not want to work but are "entitled" ~ the Liberal/socialist will kill the country as was said many many years ago ~ The chief leader is Obama
Spending is only up 0.4% under the Obama Administration.
Let's just bring the highest tax rates back up to 91% like under Ike. LOL Good luck with that.
LOL. This is a predictable response from the Democrats. Politics. The Republicans had a great deal last year and turned it down. Now they get to bargain from a position of weakness.
Amazing! Not dumb-founded, but just plain dumb. Boner and Yertle need to buy a clue.
The fiscal cliff is not a bad option. The libs get their tax increases and the repubs get their entitlement cuts. I think it is a great idea because both sides win.
S.S, Medicare and Medicaid aren't Entitlements
Actually they are. They are promises made to the American people that are not fully funded and for the most part could go bankrupt. Congress at anytime can make changes or cut money that they have promised in the past. Remember when the Social Security age was changed from 62 to 67?
These "Entitlements" are not sustainable and consume over 40% of the budget. Cuts are needed to make them relevant for future generations and to cut the deficit currently running over $1,000,000,000,000 a year. This country cannot continue to borrow 40 cents for every $1 it spends, it will come back to haunt us. Look at Greece and California examples on where we are headed.
They are earned benefits and are solvent.
The current retirement age is 65.
The earned benefit programs are not contributing to the deficit.
They were fully funded, but congress can't keep their hands out of the fund.
36% and that includes care for Vets.