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Subscribe to RSSAs the Obama White House and Congress negotiate to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, nearly two-thirds of Americans say they favor a balanced deal to reduce the deficit -- consisting of both higher tax rates and cuts to key entitlement programs.
According to the latest national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 65 percent say congressional leaders should make compromises to deal with the budget deficit, even if that means Democrats would need to accept targeted spending cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and that Republicans would need to accept targeted increases in tax rates.
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President Barack Obama speaks about the economy at the Daimler Detroit Diesel engine plant Dec. 10, 2012 in Redford, Mi.
Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, walks to the House chamber to speak on the pending fiscal cliff negotiations Dec. 11, 2012 in Washington.
That includes 68 percent of Democrats, 66 percent of Republicans and 56 percent of political independents who support this position.
By comparison, just 28 percent believe leaders should stick to their traditional positions on the budget deficit, even if that means Congress goes over the fiscal cliff, triggering the automatic spending cuts and tax increases that are set to take place at the beginning of the year if Congress is unable to reach an agreement.
The full NBC/WSJ poll -- which was conducted of 1,000 adults from Dec. 6-9 and has a margin of error of plus-minus 3.1 percentage points -- will be released at 6:30 pm ET.
This particular question has margin of error of plus-minus 4.4 percentage points.
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So all of you socialists that are envious and jeaulous of the successful and can't stand to accept your failures...tell me what a fair share is????? and if your so called rich people should pay their's then shouldnt everybody be else be paying their own fair share too?
Zavier,
You make entirely too much sense. Quit confusing the Liberals.
I see that Obama is going to Flush the Seniors Down The Toilet.... By Cutting their Medicare Plan.....
Well Seniors !!!!! You voted for him..... Now what are you going to do?? Ah!!!!! Welfare?? Food Stamps?? and Housing??? Obama is not cutting......
Why is the Fed allowed to print more money and sell more American debt!?!?!?!? Just devaluing the dollar again. It's the the only thing they know how to do is to destroy America. I bet you didn't know that was moer of their more important unpublished mandates. They got that from the world bankers that own the Fed and remain unknown! Obolish the Fed before they destroy America....but I fear its a little too late!
Oh yeah, I get it. They polled 1000 "Adults", I wonder which ones. The rest of the majority votes were-go figure-Democrats, Republicans, and "Political Independents", two thirds of the "Pigs in Office" that call themselves "The American People". This is just "Conditioning", "Brainwashing", and downright destruction of so called "Entitlements", such as "Social Security"and "Medicare". Read the fine print at the bottom that says, "You Will Comply, Resistance Is Futile".
How do we arrange for a new speaker of the House ?
The House majority elects their own Speaker. You'd have to run for Congress to have a chance to vote on who the Speaker is.
65% of Americans know we cannot solely tax our way out of this mess. Additional revenues have to be part of the deal, both rate hikes and closing of loopholes and deductions. However, doing that might -- MIGHT -- get you another $200 billion a year in new revenues (and that's being optimistic). That still leaves us somewhere in the neighborhood of $800 billion a year in the red.
The only place you can get that is through spending cuts. We have to cut far and wide to close the gap. Every federal department and every federal program needs to get cuts, some deeper than others. Some people will see federal benefits reduced or eliminated, and some federal personnel are going to lose their jobs. As far as the fiscal cliff negotiations are concerned, because Obama hasn't identified any real cuts, the House Republicans haven't gone any further on tax increases. They're deadlocked.
You are correct in that any single strategy will only go so far in reducing the deficit. Interestingly enough, when talking about cuts in federal spending, there is never any mention of cutting entitlements for Congressional members. I am a firm advocate that there should be term limits - no more "career" politicians; no more "pay for life"; contribute to their own retirement plans including social security and Medicare. Until the elected officials bear the same burdens as taxpayers and share in the same fate as the rest of us, they will never make decisions based on the good of all -- only to their own benefit, based on their personal agendas.
Republicans have become the enemy of the American way of life. Even after losing the
election they continue with their corrupt self gratifying agendas. They just
don't get it ...it is over the American people are aware of their corrupt ways.
The only way we can stop them is by creating a new party where integrity exists
distancing themselves from these corrupt fat cats. You know I always compare
Republicans to the fat cat in the American Tale movie where his mouse disguise
falls out and the mice see he is a cat and he says, "Who are you going to
believe ME or YOUR OWN EYES? Guess what your neglect to the welfare of the
middle class citizens have seen you wear a disguise only to fool us........but
....NO MORE!
AlexRu
Be prepared to iterate that, in reference to the Democrats, now that more people are realizing the impact of Obamacare on the middle class.
Maybe its time the liberal media put pressure on Obama to compromise and make real budget cuts and stop with the I am cutting the expansion by 10%. Make legit cuts and stop the political and accounting games.
There are many things that can be cut without messing with ss and medicare, here are a few.
Dec 20 2011
Dr. Coburn Releases New Report on Wasteful Government Spending in 2011: "Wastebook 2011"
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) today released a new oversight report, “Wastebook 2011” that highlights over $6.5 billion in examples of some of the most egregious ways your taxpayer dollars were wasted. This report details 100 of the countless unnecessary, duplicative and low-priority projects spread throughout the federal government.
“Video games, robot dragons, Christmas trees, and magic museums. This is not a Christmas wish list, these are just some of the ways the federal government spent your tax dollars. Over the past 12 months, politicians argued, debated and lamented about how to reign in the federal government’s out of control spending. All the while, Washington was on a shopping binge, spending money we do not have on things we do not absolutely need. Instead of cutting wasteful spending, nearly $2.5 billion was added each day in 2011 to our national debt, which now exceeds $15 trillion,” Dr. Coburn said.
“Congress cannot even agree on a plan to pay for the costs of extending jobless benefits to the millions of Americans who are still out of work. Yet, thousands of millionaires are receiving unemployment benefits and billions of dollars of improper payments of unemployment insurance are being made to individuals with jobs and others who do not qualify. And remember those infamous bridges to nowhere in Alaska that became symbols of government waste years ago? The bridges were never built, yet the federal government still spent more than a million dollars just this year to pay for staff to promote one of the bridges.”
Examples of wasteful spending highlighted in “Wastebook 2011” include:
• $75,000 to promote awareness about the role Michigan plays in producing Christmas trees & poinsettias.
• $15.3 million for one of the infamous Bridges to Nowhere in Alaska.
• $113,227 for video game preservation center in New York.
• $550,000 for a documentary about how rock music contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
• $48,700 for 2nd annual Hawaii Chocolate Festival, to promote Hawaii’s chocolate industry.
• $350,000 to support an International Art Exhibition in Venice, Italy.
• $10 million for a remake of “Sesame Street” for Pakistan.
• $35 million allocated for political party conventions in 2012.
• $765,828 to subsidize “pancakes for yuppies” in the nation’s capital.
• $764,825 to study how college students use mobile devices for social networking.
This list is trivial. The waste by our government is out of control.
You are right and the biggest waste is the salaries for the President, Congress and H&R as well as their wonderful perks the taxpayers pay for. They keep their salaries for life even if they stay only 4 years in office, make them get a 401K just like the regular people and pay for it themselves, they have the best insurance, put them on OBAMACARE and Social Security, I bet it would not take them 5 minutes to fix everything them. Another waste is the $500,000 that Nancy Pelosi cost the TAXPAYERS everytime she goes home which is 500,000X 2 X 52, the amount is unbelievable. She can fly commercial just like everyone else. We need a revolution in this country to overturn our BIG government. We the people need a leader.
When I don't have enough money for something I stop spending. Obama's approval rating might be high but I think it's a garbage in garbage out situation. Here's the deal. Stop spending so much money if you want to keep entitlements as high as they are. I think total reform is needed...people take care of your own families and stop expecting the government to do it. Government should NOT tax people 30+/-% of their pay. That's just too much and they are too wasteful with it. Anyone else in this discussion been on as many vacations as Michelle Obama?
Leslie,
Good post, but you are confusing the Obama faithful with too much sense. It causes Liberal brain overload, in which case they start spewing nonsense talking points from MSNBC, Rachael Maddow, Chris Mathews and such. They will never understand sound economic and fiscal policies.
Social Security and Medicare are not part of the negotiations. You fleecers hands off the social security and medicare. You theiven senators and house reps have made enough money off of us. All God damn rich people would not get rich if they didn't have a illegal scheme. So get lost and cut other stealing budgets that you have all over the place and leave ours to us.
SORRY BUT JUST like the unions, now that there dead, ssi and medicare will be a piece of cake ending for the gop, consider it a done deal
I always thought when I was working that what I paid in to social security was mine, but in 1964 the government decided it was their's. Those who have been adding to their IRA and 401s are going to lose them to obumma. Johnson was a donkey (dem) and so is obumma. This isn't a party thing it is an American thing.
Time to cut off those lazy free loading seniors milking us dry with their medicare and ssi, protect the top they hire people, the seniors are just dead beats holding society down, make it happen vote tea party, were takin america back!
Seniors are not fee loading people, I have paid into SS for 53 years and at 69 am still working to support all those that won't work. My employer also paid into SS for me and I assure you as my financial advisor said, if I had invested that money over the years, I would be rich and could draw 3-4T a month instead of the 1,450 I do now. The people that are free loaders are the ones getting more money each year for having more kids and I personally saw a young woman get money off her welfare card and go directly into the nail salon to have her nails done. I know of someone working in our company that is working at a low salary, drawing welfare, foodstamps and bought a house through HUD, she won't marry the kids DAD who is making over $100,000 per year because she would lose all her freebies, that is the ones that are free loading and milking the system for all they can.
Your parents must be dead beats.
I don't mind helping out someone who has a need. If I see someone with a need and I chose to give them what they need thru money, food, or other items that is called charity.
When the government takes what is mine and gives it to others that is called socialism.
in exactly what are you giving if anything at all? most likely your one of the free loaders i've mentioned!
Hardly. I am a lower middle class factory worker.
I just don't like the government or anyone else taking away my rights.
I'd give up my middle class mortgage interest deduction for a compromise (which woudl be a huge chunk of change for me). But I'd be worried about what that would do to the just barely recovering housing.
I also think raising retirement age sounds reasonable but that will require USA to keep possibly 1 million more workers, working per every year raised !!
So the compromises sound easy, but they could have huge side effects.
Just raising taxes on top 1% is not nearly enough revenue. I think a Tax rate hike though is safer than playing with deductions that were put in place for a reason.
Our government has a spending addiction problem. Our government does not have a too much revenue problem. It does have a problem with providing a disencentive to large segments of society to create, innovate and succeed and to produce an increase. Take the Shackles off our wrists and ankles Mr. President. Don't add to them. You have done more to create a class of servitude and hopeless poverty than any president in history. Here's your chance to become great, take it.
Two corporatist party's convincing the hoi polloi that we need more sacrifice to survive.
We are a debtor nation...its just a matter of time before our status drops as low as our world wide test scores.
Ha
Just found out, we the TAXPAYERS, working people, are going to pay 3% on our payroll checks each pay period toward OBAMACARE, funny, we were told no more taxes on the Middle Class. Read in the Paper this AM, about OBAMA meeting in Washington. If we go over the cliff, Republicans will be blamed, And OBAMA will appear virtuous while figuring he has four more years to patch things up, will get the middle-class revenues he needs while effectively neutralizing the enemy, I guess we the TAXPAYERS are the enemy. Also, since the election, my car insurance has gone up $200 per year, been with GEICO 18 years no claims. Now I've been informed my homeowners insurance will go up, already paying $2,400 per year on a 1400 sq ft house, again no claims. I'm still working as even with SS and retirement plan, I cannot continue to pay these increases. I knew this was going to happen, I don't know what Washington thinks the middle class cannot continue to support these people on welfare foodstamps and medical care. I work with girls that are single mothers, they are having a hard time supporting themselves and their children, but they are working not sitting on their butts doing nothing for the government handouts they receive. Its sickening what people have become and what the BIG government is doing to the working class.
Politicians always say they are about helping the middle-class yet where I live all the Pilot programs go to wealthy corporations- so they pay no property taxes- gee who is going to make up the difference- and people buy what they are selling
cut Medicare and offer free mass burials to those over 65
you forgot those on welfare and foodstamps which costs much more than the rest- welfare was 1 trillion last yr alone
As the Obama White House and Congress negotiate to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, nearly two-thirds of Americans say they favor a balanced deal to reduce the deficit -- consisting of both higher tax rates and cuts to key entitlement programs.
It amazes me that welfare at some point became an entitlement. At least I hope that is what they are referring to and not the true entitlement programs that we pay for and earn as wage earners that pay the @!$%#ing taxes.
Why don't the politicans cut their pensions and benefits in half. That will balance the budget. It doesn't matter what they agree on They are only putting a bandaid on it so it isn't going to fix anything for the long term. Lets face it. This country is broke.
The corrupt Republican corporate MONARCHY & its INFILTRATED, "HAND-PICKED" political puppets, the ONE-PERCENTERS & their FOREVER VACATIONING CEO'S have MADE SLAVES of the 99% American People!
Tax the hell out of everyone, cut all entitlements, especially ALL THE FOREIGN DONATIONS we are making to other countries who, in return, are stabbing us in the back!
We're ALL going down together this time! We are heading full steam ahead into our 2nd Depression brought on by the corrupt Republican corporate MONARCHY because of their UNCONTROLLED CAPITALISTIC GREED of which there is STILL NO END IN SIGHT! Their political puppets are busy working overtime trying to screw us! They've done a FINE JOB SO FAR! Now, we can ALL GO DOWN TOGETHER!
TR - Sure is funny that you don't mention the corrupt Democrats that are trying to give away more and hoard as much as they can. obama, reid, pelosi and all the democrats are part of the 1% you are bitching about. Actually, all politicians are doing this. That is why they become politicians.
Capitalism is not the problem. Working for what you earn is the only way that a society will succeed. All the way back to the cavemen days... You worked; either hunting, gathering or doing something to contribute to society or you didn't get food, housing or protection. There were no handouts.
WTF poll?? Here we go again, and I love that the Dems Blame the GOP for everything, better look in your own back yard, as its full of @!$%# .. Dems its Our way or the Highway, what kind of crap is that? I think the Media has gone completely NUTTS, and Communist, as they are not telling but one side of a story anymore and its the ruling party line, and they wonder why so many want out. F the Dems and there wannabee leader
they polled 1,000 adults- but in DC we have children playing w/huge sums of money- it's like giving a million credit cards to a teenager and telling them to spend wisely- wise and politicians are like oil and water they can never mix- so let's have some mixed drinks and watch as we go cliff diving
this is so stupid you are going to after so called entitlements, so what the GOP is saying is that if the rich have to give more take away from already living in poverty, this is not right, it is not the entitlements that got them into this mess, they have borrowed from the entitlement Congress needs to be put on minimum wage for doing minimum work
Every adult knows that it's necessary to compromise in life sometimes. Maybe we should elect some adults to Congress next time around. And that goes for both parties. Don't kid yourselves. Reid and Pelosi and their ilk are just as juvenile as Boehner and his crowd.