Obama's "fiscal cliff" remarks leave GOP angry, confused

In the latest twist of the "fiscal cliff" saga, President Obama today seemingly spiked the football before crossing the goal line, applauding a deal that hasn't been finalized and raising the ire of some Republicans who accused him of moving the goalposts. To top things off, he took the opportunity to rib Congress for their dysfunction - a curious move at a time when it's their votes the president should be seeking, not their criticism.

Standing before a group of middle-class taxpayers at the White House, Mr. Obama chipperly announced that "it appears an agreement...is in sight" over the so-called "fiscal cliff."

Negotiations over the "cliff," the series of tax hikes and spending cuts that kick in next year, are going on behind closed doors, primarily between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Vice President Joe Biden -- not Mr. Obama. The two sides appear close to reaching some kind of deal. But even as he acknowledged their progress, the president today ribbed Congress for their dysfunction.

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Removed from "cliff" talks, Obama ribs Congress

"My preference would have been to solve all these problems in the context of a larger agreement, a bigger deal, a grand bargain, whatever you want to call it... But with this Congress that was obviously a little too much to hope for at this time," Mr. Obama said, prompting laughter from his White House-approved audience of middle class Americans. Later in his remarks, Mr. Obama joked, "One thing we can count on with respect to this Congress is that if there is even one second left before you have to do what you're supposed to do, they will use that last second."

The president's big talk today may have set back the negotiations, some Republican lawmakers immediately complained.

• Finally, a "fiscal cliff" breakthrough
• "Fiscal cliff" deal rests with two old negotiating partners: Biden and McConnell

"What did the president of the United States just do? Well, he kind of made fun, he made a couple of jokes... sent a message of confrontation to the Republicans," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. -- a senator with an obviously contentious history with Mr. Obama. "I guess I have to wonder," he continued, "and I think the American people have to wonder, whether the president really wants this issue resolved, or is it to his short-term political benefit for us to go over the cliff?"

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McCain derides Obama's "cheerleading, ridiculing" remarks on "fiscal cliff"

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Corker: "Disappointed" that Obama "has fun heckling Congress"

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said on the Senate floor. "I was very disappointed to hear what the president just had to say in front of a pep rally - something very unbecoming of where we are at this moment... I know the president has fun heckling Congress. I think he lost, probably, numbers of votes with what he did - he didn't lose mine; I'm not that way, I'm gonna look at the substance. But it's unfortunate that he doesn't spend as much time working on solving problems as he does with campaigns and pep rallies."

Corker wasn't just angry about Mr. Obama's jabs at the legislative branch -- he was angry about Mr. Obama's insistence today that part of the "fiscal cliff" known as the "sequester" (which consists of $1.2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years) should be replaced with both more strategic spending cuts and new revenue.

"I want to make clear that any agreement we have to deal with these automatic spending cuts that are being threatened for next month, those also have to be balanced," the president said today, "because, remember, my principle always has been let's do things in a balanced, responsible way. And that means the revenues have to be part of the equation in turning off the sequester and eliminating these automatic spending cuts, as well as spending cuts."

Corker retorted today, "I just want to go on record here on the Senate floor - I know there are negotiations taking place - but the sequester was to be dealt with, substituted with other spending reductions, not through revenues."

One Republican aide told CBS News that after weeks of asking Congress to simply deal with extending the Bush-era tax rates for middle-class Americans, the president was shifting the goalposts by pressuring Congress over the sequester spending cuts.

The president's remarks were certainly unexpected but were far from the only questionable move in negotiations so far leading some to ask what's going through the minds of the nation's leaders as the country's economic future hangs in the balance?

Days before Christmas, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, showed his weak hand in negotiations when he called an audible and introduced a "Plan B" to solve the "fiscal cliff" - a plan that failed to garner his caucus' support and was ultimately scrapped.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, meanwhile, raised eyebrows 36 hours before the "cliff" deadline Sunday when he slow-walked negotiations, prompting McConnell to seek out Biden's help.

While Mr. Obama's remarks may have ruffled some feathers, McConnell soon after took to the Senate floor to apparently try and smooth things over.

"As the President just said, the most important piece, the piece that has to be done now, is preventing the tax hikes," McConnell said in a conciliatory manner. "He said, 'for now our most immediate priority is to stop taxes going up for middle class families starting tomorrow.' He suggested that action on the sequester is something we can continue to work on in the coming months. So I agree, let's pass the tax relief portion now."

[jamesdickason]

O is a DA and the sooner he is gone the better off all of us will be. It will take 20 years to undo what damage he has done.

[FP1970]

Those middle-class voters standing behind Obama better not be too surprised when he moves the goalposts in 1 or 2 years and raises their taxes as well. For Obama to be able to feed his army of parasite supporters, including illegal invaders, he will need to go after lower and lower income brackets, in order to bring in more money. Every thieving Socialist who has ever destroyed an economy started off by saying they were only going after "the rich".

[zenia5]

Bitterness and sour grapes are not attractive or productive.

[lah99]

They are already seeing their taxes increase through the Healthcare bill and elsewhere. The math is inescapable. The marginal increases in rates to be approved with no spending cuts do not come anywhere near closing the gap. According to government figures our debt is now equal to GDP since GDP has declined in recent years. The reality is that Congress has historically not dealt with spending cuts. Even Reagan come in with lower taxes that, according to his plan, were supposed to be coupled to decreased spending, but the politics never got to cuts, so we ran a deficit.

[boguseconomist]

"It's no secret that some of America's largest corporations engage in complicated accounting in order to minimize their taxes. However, materials released as part of a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing last week revealed that technology companies like Apple, Cisco, Microsoft, and Hewlett-Packard are among the companies going to the greatest efforts to shelter their revenues — and some of those efforts seem to violate the intent (if not the letter) of U.S. law." Digital Trends

More than a hundred billion dollars are being squirreled away by major U.S. corporations every year without a murmur by the Congress. Why? Because those corporations are the ones buying the Congress. Stop blaming the streetwalkers and start shining the light on the pimps! Public financiang of campaigns instead of corporate bribery might be an answer.....

[pleaseletitbeso]

boguseconomist says: Stop blaming the streetwalkers and start shining the light on the pimps! Public financiang of campaigns instead of corporate bribery might be an answer.....


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Exactly

There has to be a way to get this idea off the ground and onto the ballots, politicians are so out of control as to be nearing treason with their total lack of accountability to the American Public.

[zenia5]

The GOP has been "angry and confused" for several years now, especially the last four. Something is terribly wrong with a party when their primary goal (admitted publicly) for four years was to keep this President from getting re-elected (and how's that working for ya?). Something is also terribly wrong when the majority of the GOP pledges allegiance to King Norquist instead of to the American people they supposedly represent. Disgusting.

[zenia5]

@Ranger...It's attitudes like yours that contributed to the defeat of your "lord and saviour". The majority of Americans are very tired of the hate and bigotry you and your GOP represent. Good luck with that.

[truthsayer1]

Majority of Asians voted for Obama.
Majority of Hispanics voted for Obama
Majority of Blacks voted for Obama
Majority of Women voted for Obama
Majority of all voters, under 45, voted for Obama
Majority, (ALL,) Felons voted for Obama
Majority of Alternative life style folks voted for Obama

MAJORITY OF WHITE, HETEROSEXUAL, MALES THAT WORK SUPPORTING THE 47% THAT ARE ON THE PUBLIC DOLE, VOTED FOR ROMNEY

Amazing that Obama only pulled 51% of the vote.

[zenia5]

I find it rather odd that you include the word "truth" in your name.

[jamesdickason]

The statistics speak for themselves. The man is a very skilled con man and is quite adept at creating descent among everyone to his advantage.

[Randy9474]

The sound bites of iconoclasts, amazing how easy it is to distort with swallow quips and paraphrases. The quote "it appears an agreement...is in sight" is hard to associate with the mocking perkiness you wish us to associate with your phrase 'Mr. Obama chipperly [sic] announced that.' A real reach to support your ugly metaphor that 'Obama today seemingly spiked the football before crossing the goal line.' You must have had a tough childhood, what an odd visualization.
For my part, I was happy to hear an agreement was reached by an overwhelming Senate majority yesterday. I am sure it must disappoint that your effort to raise the ire of Republicans (who generally appear perpetually irate and vitriolic), and those you pander to, that rationality held sway yesterday. I'll assume 'government-by-gridlock' is you preferred state of affairs as it lends itself to your form of stirring the pot rhetoric.

[intonews]

McCains says the American people have to wonder if the President want to solve these issues....is he jack crazy? We have been waiting for Republicans to be serious about this issue and not strapped to a lobbyist for 20 years. Norquist doesn't not have the best interest for this country only his and other billionaires. Although if this doesn't go his way he has an out for those Republicans...he can say they were forced into it and they didn't raise taxes on their own...What a dangerous game they are playing with all of us. Their retirements, health care and mortgages are bought and paid for by the American people.

[sandyclaude]

If the Republicans don't accept this deal then what president obama said about them is true.Most people know that republicans only want to keep the rich rich.And they will take from the poor and middle class to get their money. Now how right is that? It's not

[democracy8]

Exactly.

[francsie]

The only thing us liberals are unhappy about is that the unrealistic conservatives still are under the illusion that Reagan's trickle down economics works.The one term Bushed proved thatbwrong.

[jbchitown]

what is it going to take to "educate" the progressives? spending cuts are not slowing growth in spending they are true cuts which this bill or any other bill will not do. It's like going shopping at a store with a 75% off sale and saying I saved hunderds of dollars today because I bought all this stuff on sale. You still spent money just not as much. What is so difficult for the general public to understand. We have a spending no a revenu problem and until someone take this seriously we will continue to go down the tube. These fiscal cliff talks are nothting more than theatrical politics, no one is trully being challenge and no one on either side is addressing the realy problem. We haven't had a budget in how long? When is American going to wake up an realize we can not continue to give these goverment cronies more money, we need to take it away from them before the blow every single dime.

[francsie]

the main spending cuts must be to cut defense spending by 3/4's,cut entitlements to the members of the Senate & the house, and finally stop all the pork barrel amendments to legitimate bills one the floors of both houses. The right needs to get a grip on the size the defense department needs to be in the 21st century

[democracy8]

Try that again in English when you're not drunk.