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Boehner changes debt limit plan to secure Tea Party support
Joe Biden could be key to debt limit compromise
Special report: America's debt battle
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
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Obama urges action as debt stalemate continues
Updated at 12:35 p.m. ET
With just days left to reach a deal, negotiations over raising the debt ceiling remain stalemated, but President Obama said Friday morning that he was confident a bipartisan solution is achievable.
"The time for putting party first is over. The time for compromise on behalf of the American people is now," Mr. Obama said. "And I'm confident that we can solve this problem."
Even as he expressed optimism, however, Mr. Obama delivered a stern warning to Congress: "For all the intrigue and all the drama that's taking place on Capitol Hill right now, I'm confident that -- but as I said earlier, we are now running out of time. It's time for everybody to step up and show the leadership the American people expect."
Mr. Obama delivered his remarks from the White House Diplomatic Reception Room -- a setting perhaps chosen to send a message to the House, where diplomacy appeared to be sorely lacking Thursday night. Conservative Republicans on Thursday delivered a stinging rebuke against House Speaker John Boehner, when they refused to support his debt limit plan, which would have increased the U.S. borrowing limit by up to $900 billion while cutting more than $900 billion in spending over the next decade.
Senate to vote on Reid's debt limit plan todayBoehner changes debt limit plan to secure Tea Party support
Joe Biden could be key to debt limit compromise
Special report: America's debt battle
Boehner's original plan reduced the deficit significantly with only spending cuts -- no tax increases -- and called for a vote on an amendment to the Constitution to require a balanced federal budget. Even if it had passed in the House, Democratic leaders in the Senate made clear Boehner's bill was too conservative to make it into law. Still, the proposal wasn't good enough for House conservatives, and Boehner didn't even bother putting the bill up for a vote last night.
Even as the stalemate over the debt limit drags on, House Republican leaders sounded optimistic Friday morning they could work through their problems. After meeting with other House GOP leaders this morning, Republican Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said, "We've got a plan. It's a great plan."
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Following a closed-door meeting with House Republicans, details started to emerge of the new plan. Members say this new version makes the second debt limit increase contingent upon actually sending a balanced budget amendment to the states -- an action that would take a two-thirds vote in Congress.
This modification appears to be winning over some conservatives. Republican Reps. Jeff Flake of Arizona, Phil Gingrey of Georgia and Jeff Landry of Louisiana said Friday morning they had gone from a "no" to a "yes" - and it appeared several other members had also come on board.
Mr. Obama, however, dismissed the Republican plan and said it "has no chance of becoming law." As he has before, Mr. Obama criticized the Boehner plan for only extending the nation's borrowing authority through the end of this year.
"It's a plan that would force us to relive this crisis in just a few short months," he said. "Holding our economy captive to Washington politics once again. In other words, it does not solve the problem."
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are moving forward with their own plan. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said this morning he's finally taking his plan, which would cut around $2 trillion in spending and extend the nation's borrowing authority through 2012, to the Senate floor by the end of the day.
"This is likely our last chance to save this nation from default," Reid said. "The question is - will today's Republicans break away from the shrill voice of the Tea Party and return to the Republican Party of Ronald Reagan."
Mr. Obama said today that leaders in the Senate should use either Reid's plan, or a plan put forward earlier by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, as the basis for a bipartisan agreement.
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Schieffer: We're behind Square One, in a hole
Congress has just days left to vote on a plan to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, the legal limit the U.S. can borrow. By August 2, the Obama administration says, the U.S. will have lost its authority to borrow anymore money and will be "running on fumes."
"We need to reach a compromise by Tuesday so that our country will have the ability to pay its bills on time, as we always have," Mr. Obama said. He emphasized that raising the debt ceiling does not authorize new spending -- it simply ensures that the government can pay for the bills it has already racked up.
The president warned that if an agreement isn't reached, the U.S. could lose its triple-A credit rating. "Not because we didn't have the capacity to pay our bills -- we do," he said. "But because we didn't have a triple-A political system to match our triple-A credit rating."
If the United States' credit rating were downgraded, it would be harder to borrow money, and interest rates would potentially increase across the board. "That's inexcusable," Mr. Obama said. "There are a lot of crises in the world we can't always predict or avoid... This isn't one of those crises."
White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer told CBS News White House Correspondent Peter Maer this morning that leaders are waiting for House Republicans to stop the political posturing and agree to a bipartisan deal. "The question isn't how we compromise -- it's if the House is willing," he said.
If the House wants to vote on the new version of Boehner's bill today, they'll have to go through some procedural hoops first, starting with taking it back to the House Rules Committee to alter it. It's unclear, however, how much progress House Republicans can make after altering their bill. Boehner can only afford to lose 24 Republicans if he plans to pass his bill without any Democratic support."I am very pleasantly surprised that they are not twisting and ripping arms off, but I simply cannot raise the debt ceiling if we're not going to change the way we do business," Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said Thursday night.
Still, those looking for a solution remained optimistic.
"I think investors small and large in America should know that despite the fact that we are not there yet, House Republicans' objectives remain the same," Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., said Thursday night.
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We can not afford to continue business as usual with this nonsense. This thing is coming to a head. 40 cents out of each dollar spent by the federal government is borrowed. The staggering $14.4 national debt requires $300 billion each year just to pay the interest.
We are asking the wrong question. It should not be about how we go about raising the debt ceiling again. It should be about how are we going to stop raising the debt ceiling. It is going to be a bit painful whenever it stops, but the longer this goes on the worse it will be. We are quickly pushing the economic soundness of the United States over the cliff.
We must elect responsible adults to go to Washington to ask the right questions, and who are serious about enacting the right solutions. It is obvious those people are not in office yet.
The CBO, the GAO, and President Obama's Deficit Commission all told the nation that what we are doing is NOT SUSTAINABLE. We can not keep doing business as usual in Washington. We must elect people who are serious about reducing the size and scope of the federal government to a level the American people can afford - one that meets our needs, not our wants or wish list. We have to become practical again.
The matter is now serious
(quotes and paraphrase of Paine)
Society is everything constructive and good that people together accomplish.
Government is to protect us from our own, and others vices. Government has its origins in the evil of man and is therefore a necessary evil at best. The purpose of Government is to protect life, liberty, and property, and should be judged solely on the extent it accomplishes this goal.
People are happier if they are responsible for creation of the laws that rule them. When this system of rules becomes too complex and rife with contradictions, pretending to offer a reasonable system of checks and balances to separate power, then a small portion of people soon retain supreme control over this system.
America flourished under representative democracy for over two centuries with the elected government arguably protecting life, liberty, and property. Recently, the executive branch has altered that separation of power in its own favor, accumulating power without representation through appointment of czars, and activities of a central bank, among other things, that threaten our very system of representative democracy.
American governance is altered, with purpose no longer solely to protect life, liberty, and property. Actions are taken by the powerful few to secure their own economic well-being. The constructive and good accomplished by society are diminished by self-interest. Property and liberty are no longer protected.
Harry Reid refused to allow the bill to be even voted on in the Senate.
The Republicans in the House sent a second (less conservative, and less meaningful) plan to the Senate, and the Democrats in the Senate immediately killed it.
The Republicans have passed and submitted two plans, which were real plans scored by the CBO. So far, the President and the Democrat led Senate have produced NO real plan (one that has been scored by the CBO).
President Obama's plan = Ask Americans to give him $2.5 trillion, to carry him through the 2012 election.
Harry Reid's Senate Plan = If it is not President Obama's Plan, then it is "dead on arrival."
Basically, they are trying to disarm the American people.
The Second Amendment to the US Constitution states:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Note that the wording of the Second Amendment first mentions 'militia' and then the 'people'. Many liberals today try to reinterpret the Second Amendment to make it say that only the military have the right to bear arms. But this is not what the Founding Fathers meant when they wrote the Bill of Rights
Obama has had a tremendous run of success cleaning up the disaster left for him by the Republicons. The Republicons HAVE BEEN WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING. So why should anyone give them the time of day?
Let me see, did Pelosi and Reid compromise when they passed Obama care in the dark of night behind closed doors?
Did Obama, Pelosi and Reid compromise when they passed Stimulus I, after so bitterly objecting to Bush's TARP?
Did Obama, Pelosi and Reid compromise when they passed Stimulus II, after Stimulus I failed?
Did Obama, Pelosi and Reid compromise when the Labor Sec arbitrarily ordered Boeing to ditch its' new plant in SC and open more production lines in Seattle Washington, in a sell out to his Union buddys?
Can you give me three good reasons why the Tea Party should compromise any standards to the Dems?
Obama's lack of a written plan and the Dem's 800 days without a budget and spend spend spend led us to this crisis point, not the Repub's, not the Tea Party, not the Taxpayers!!!!!
Bob T.
1. Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Barack Obama
2. Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's Daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.
3. Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Viet Nam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.
4. The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority for years was enforcing U.N. resolutions in Iraq.
5. A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational drug corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.
6. The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.
7. If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.
8. A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our longtime allies, then demand their cooperation and money.
9. Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans is socialism. HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.
10. Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools. Evolution is a lie, but get a flu shot every year because the virus evolves.
11. A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which tens of thousands die and the nation is plunged into debt is solid national policy.
12. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.
13. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.
14. You support "Executive Privilege" for every Republican ever born, who will be born or who might be born (in perpetuity.)
15. Support hunters who shoot their friends and blame them for wearing orange vests similar to those worn by the quail.
16. You can vote to raise the debt limit as long as Obama is not President.
17. Officials should allow Christian prayer and Bible studies in schools and government buildings as a matter of Religious Freedom, but Muslims should not be allowed to build mosques or be elected to office because they practice Islam.
18. You have an argument why every one of the above is sensible and not hypocritical, and besides look at all the terrible things the Democrats may have done.
YES, you absolutely missed it. It is now one DOLLAR, one vote.
The illegitimate right wing Supreme Court passed Citizens United which allowed unlimited contributions to political campaigns. You KNOW who has all the money in the US. That is why $75 million of LAUNDERED money was put into the 2010 elections to elect right wingers. It worked like a charm. You better wake up and realize that we do not have any real election in America. They are POLITICAL APPOINTMENTS by the rich.