Obama: GOP position on debt limit not "sustainable"
President Barack Obama makes an opening statement during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, June 29, 2011.
/ AP Photo/Carolyn KasterUpdated 3:20 p.m. Eastern Time
President Obama said Wednesday that the Republican position that they will not accept any tax increases as part of a deal to increase the debt limit is not "sustainable," adding, "everybody else has been willing to move off their maximalist position; they need to do the same."
Mr. Obama said Democrats have already taken on their "sacred cows" in the negotiations, including accepting spending cuts that hurt their constituencies and an openness to "look at" entitlement programs. Yet Republicans, he said, have refused to break from their opposition to tax increases for "corporate jet owners" and oil companies.
"If everybody else is willing to take on their sacred cows and do tough things in order to achieve the goal of real deficit reduction, then I think it would be hard for the Republicans to stand there and say that, 'The tax break for corporate jets is sufficiently important that we're not willing to come to the table and get a deal done,' or, 'We're so concerned about protecting oil and gas subsidies for oil companies that are making money hand over fist, that's the reason we're not going to come to a deal,'" he said. "I don't think that's a sustainable position."
Mr. Obama predicted "we will reach a deal" to raise the debt limit, adding that his "expectation is that they'll do the responsible thing."
Added the president: "Look, I think that what we've seen in negotiations here in Washington is a lot of people say a lot of things to satisfy their base or to get on cable news, but that, hopefully, leaders at a certain point rise to the occasion and they do the right thing for the American people."
"And that's what I expect to happen this time," he continued. "Call me naive, but my expectation is that leaders are going to lead."
The president said every observer who isn't a politician has said the necessary savings cannot come without including an increase in revenue.
"And the revenue we're talking about isn't coming out of the pockets of middle-class families that are struggling, it's coming out of folks who are doing extraordinarily well and who are enjoying the lowest tax rates since before I was born," he said.
"If you're a -- if you are a wealthy CEO or a health -- hedge fund manager in America right now, your taxes are lower than they have ever been. They're lower than they've been since the 1950s," continued the president. "And you can afford it. You'll still be able to ride on your corporate jet; you're just going to pay a little more."
"Nobody wants to put the creditworthiness of the United States in jeopardy," he added. "Nobody wants to see the United States default. So we've got to seize this moment, and we have to seize it soon."
(At left, Mr. Obama's opening statement at the press conference, which focused on the economy.)
The Obama administration has warned of economic catastrophe if the United States does not raise its $14.3 trillion debt limit - which could mean default to creditors, the shutdown of much of the government and the stoppage of Social Security and other payments. Even if lawmakers come close to the deadline for raising the ceiling, they say, it could spook investors and have a significant, negative impact on markets.
On Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund warned that lack of action could mean a "severe shock" to global markets and the slow-moving economic recovery.
The U.S. actually hit the debt limit on May 16, according to the Treasury Department, but Treasury undertook a host of accounting maneuvers to buy time. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has repeatedly warned that those measures will only get the country to a hard deadline of August 2nd, however - just over one month from today.
On Tuesday, House Speaker John Boehner called the August 2 deadline an "artificial date created by the Treasury secretary." Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl said he expects the deadline to be moved back to later in the month.
In a statement after the press conference, Boehner said, "The President is sorely mistaken if he believes a bill to raise the debt ceiling and raise taxes would pass the House."
"The votes simply aren't there - and they aren't going to be there, because the American people know tax hikes destroy jobs," he added. "They also know Washington has been on a spending binge for many years, and they will only tolerate a debt limit increase if we stop it."
Boehner added: "[Obama's] administration has been burying our kids and grandkids in new debt and offered no plan to rein in spending. Republicans have been leading and offering solutions to put the brakes on this spending binge. The President has been AWOL from that debate."
At his news conference, Mr. Obama said "By August 2nd, we run out of tools to make sure that all our bills are paid, so that is a hard deadline." He called the consequences to not acting "significant and unpredictable," adding that if capital markets pull money out of the economy, it could mean an increase in interest rates and, with them, lost jobs.
He compared members of Congress to his daughters, Malia and Sasha, who he said get their homework done a day early, saying Congress can do the same thing.
"If you know you've got to do something, just do it," he said, going on to reference the fact that members are often on leave instead of working in Washington.
"You need to be here," he said. "I've been here."
Obama hammers Congress: Do your job
Republicans say any deal to raise the debt limit must also include an agreement on spending cuts that exceed the debt limit increase. The White House and congressional Democrats say they are open to a deal, but that it must include tax increases or the elimination of tax breaks and loopholes for major corporations and high-earning Americans. Republicans, led by Boehner, say such "job-killing tax hikes" are off the table.
House Speaker John Boehner.
/ AP Photo/J. Scott ApplewhiteNegotiators have been aiming to increase the limit by over $2 trillion with the same amount in deficit reduction, though there has been talk of a smaller increase. The $2 trillion figure would be expected to cover the country's borrowing needs until after the 2012 elections.
Last week, Republicans walked out of bipartisan negotiations on a deal led by Vice President Joe Biden, citing Democrats' demand for "tax increases." Democrats, meanwhile, suggested Republicans are "playing with fire" by holding up a vote on a debt limit increase.
The president said Wednesday that a "conceptual framework" for a deal is in place as a result of those negotiations, and that more than $1 trillion in cuts had been agreed on.
Mr. Obama met separately Monday with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in an effort to break the impasse. He has said he wants a deal by the beginning of July to give congressional leaders time to sell the package to members.
A recent CBS News poll found that 63 percent of Americans think raising the debt limit is a bad idea.
Wednesday's press conference marks Mr. Obama's 14th formal, solo White House news conference, reports CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller. It's been nearly four months since his last press conference, on March 11th. At same point in his presidency, President George W. Bush had held eight news conferences.
If you include joint news conferences with foreign leaders at home and abroad - at which as few as one question per side is taken - Mr. Obama's news conference count today hits 82.
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September 29, 2008
It'll be the 7th TIME THE DEBT LIMIT has been raised during this administra?tion.
Obama is correct. So far, the Dem's are the only ones that are making concessions. The GOP is doing nothing more than grandstanding. They need to stop.
The debt ceiling is to pay for things ALREADY authorized by Congress. It is not for new things. Either we pay the bills that we have accrued, or we don't. If we don't, we have to be prepared to pay in other ways - including a world wide depression.
We don't care if you hate our country's President. Really. What we care about is that you are choosing your hate over the good of our country. It WILL be remembered.
Republicans refuse to bargain. It is also critical that the debt ceiling be raised so that we can pay for our current obligations. THere are many things we can cut from our budget, liek the unnecessary tank painting plant in Ohio and I'll bet Boehner will never conceed to that one.
We have ONE chance to stop unsustainable Obama, and it is for every American to write their Congressperson to vote "No Higher Debt."
They are destroying our country from within - in every single sector! ALL of this has been predicted for let's say 20, maybe 30 years? ? WHY do they constantly have to ignore the blatantly obvious? Things are so bad that I fear for life as we know it here in America and that is NOT a way to live. Thanks a lot to generations of bad leadership. I blame all of them because they have not been able or willing to stop this. We try to vote for who we think has our best interest at heart but as it turns out - our leaders are nothing but talk. WHAT have they done but further bankrupt our country & make us a laughing stock around the world? I've heard school age kids come up with better ideas to heal our country than most Gov't officials. Gov't is a popularity contest of who gets the most votes (and most luxurious lifestyle.) It's so high school and I'm so tired of it all. They've had us going around in a vicious circle for decades, never able to get things right. If I did my job even a quarter of the way the Gov't runs this country, I'd have been FIRED. But instead, I go to work minimum 40 hours a week, work hard, get great reviews and still lose my job due to downsizing. A friend of mine lost her job she held for 10 years due to outsourcing! College graduates and high school drop outs are all in the same boat - no one is immune. I know folks who have taken a $40,000 to $50,000 a year pay cut because companies that were lucky enough to rehire couldn't support the old pay scale. The world as we knew it long ago has quickly faded away - I'm afraid what it will be like for my children as parents trying to raise a family. The citizens of this country are overwhelmed, tired and scared. No wonder people are praying for the end.
fearing your own government is stupid. if you have a beef, then do somehting about it. chances are, the people who work in the government office you are mad at already understand the problem way better than you do and they are probably annoyed about it too!
so-called rich. History shows there is a straight line inverse ratio of jobs and taxes to the rich, the higher the tax the fewer jobs. This has been confirmed by Obama's CBO again this spring.
The GOP, slavishly obedient to the needs of about five percent of Americans-- all of them wealthy and white-- is also completely clueless about embarrassing contradictions in its campaign to "reduce" government spending. Just a few points about the GOP approach--
1. The GOP campaigns loudly for cuts for "entitlements" but no cuts are suggested for the largest welfare system for industry in the world-- the Department of Defense and Worldwide Black Operations. The Pentagon largesse is so vast, DOD accountants declare it is impossible to track it all-- literal billions are still missing-in-action.
2. The GOP campaigns loudly for "spending cuts" but only after awarding massive tax breaks to industry and the wealthy. In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker robbed the previously balanced state budget of $141 million to give to the already well-off, and then discovered a budget deficit of $141 million. Walker promptly declared a budget emergency, and promised to find the guilty parties. The same patttern, more or less, is a GOP routine to be followed in all 50 states-- watch for it.
3. The GOP campaigns loudly for tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations, but forgets (conveniently) about the middle class, which must make up the difference in its own tax burden. This is literally to rob the poor (and poorer) and give to the rich, and our rapidly eroding middle class bears the damage..
4. The very deficit the GOP whines about was its own creation-- its signature deficit operating procedure since Reagan. And the Reagan deficit (1981-1989) almost doubled again under Bush (2001-2009) for two wars and tax breaks for the wealthy (all major budget expenses).
5. In 2008, a Bush demand for a bank bailout of $700 billion for his Wall Street friends and donors, along with Bush tax breaks for the wealthy, helped balloon the deficit further. Again, all such Bush bailouts for the wealthy were carried on the backs and household budgets of middle-class Americans. So absurd was the situation, taxpaying middle-class families were foreclosed out of their homes by the same banks receiving a taxpayer bailout of $700 billion.
6. Wall Street was a demonstration GOP project for the idea of a DEregulated market-- and this "free market" ideology crashed and burned before our eyes, bringing down the nation's economy once again. (The first time was 1929. ) Should most Americans pay to keep such disastrous GOP economic delusions comfortable?
The Laffer Curve is supposed to demonstrate there is a happy point of balance, where less taxation brings more revenue. If this sounds a bit too convenient, it is-- an economic version of "Cold Fusion" often saluted, never proven. Unfortunately, the GOP was never able to find that magic point of balance, nor discover why the economy roared ahead under Clinton after two major tax increases.
7. The answer to Question 6 is a loud NO-- the American middle class has no obligation to support David Koch Industries, Inc. or its corporate minions. Even Andrew Carnegie recognized the wealthy owe society a debt of gratitude for their wealth. Without the economic underpinnings the rest of us make possible, corporate industry could not exist.
8. GOP Voodoo Economics 101 is a ploy to persuade Americans they should place their tax dollars in the hands of a gentleman with a paper bag, who will keep their money safe for them while industry uses it (without interest) to become wealthier. Unfortunately, the notion of "trickledown economics" has left the middle class with a flat real income, but the GOP promises to look into the matter (they will call us).
9. The GOP has no concept of the "public interest" at all. As Bush2 made clear during a fundraising speech delivered in his first term, he considered the wealthy his political base (his word). For those making more than $250,000 (roughly five percent of all Americans), this was Bush-style "welfare for the rich" at the expense of the rest of us.
10. Perhaps you have not yet read this interesting page at ZFacts--
http://zfacts.com/p/461.html or seen the movie at http://zfacts.com/p/1197.html#8011
The problem is spending. When taxes were raised under Clinton, the average rate of increases in revenues were 7%, When Reagan and Bush lowered taxes, the average rate of increases in revenues were 11%. It are facts found from government records at http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=200
Trickle up! It's called sales revenue.
$4 trillion borrowed and spent for the wars; $5 trillion over 10 years in "temporary" tax cuts; Medicare needs revamped.
O wait: I just heard some dominating Repub candidates claim the debt ceiling deadline is a myth. So I guess the debt doesn't matter either.
Anyway, get the "F" to work is right.