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from The Great Debate:
Time for a serious deficit plan
President Barack Obama pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term. But because he focused on political gimmicks, rather than real reform, we’ve seen trillion-dollar deficits and nearly $6 trillion added to the debt instead. Based on what we heard from the president at a news conference Tuesday, his unserious attitude is likely to continue.
That’s worrying. Unless we can get a handle on Washington’s overspending, and quickly, it will continue to undermine our economy and jeopardize our children’s futures.
Sadly, the White House is not yet serious about doing that. Instead, it has predictably suggested politically driven tax hikes as appropriate offsets for the sequester, including a tax on corporate jets. If that sounds like a poll-tested P.R. gimmick rather than a serious solution, that’s because it is. A permanent tax increase like that would take 10 years just to raise enough money to replace one week’s worth of the sequester.
A similar scheme, attempted in the 1990s, actually resulted in lost revenue. It had to be repealed just a few years later because of the economic damage it caused.
from Tales from the Trail:
Gingrich debt ceiling advice: make Obama responsible
Newt Gingrich says he "deeply opposed" to the proposal by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell for resolving the debt ceiling impasse because it cedes too much power to President Obama.
"It's basically a surrender," Gingrich said Tuesday on the Fox News Channel, imploring congressional Republicans to stand firm in the standoff with Obama.
from Tales from the Trail:
Washington Extra – Comfort zones
Senators are talking. The president is talking. But whether they are talking at or with each other is another question.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pulled a Libya resolution so that senators could focus on debt issues this week, which after all was the reason why they cancelled recess.
from Tales from the Trail:
Down to the wire…
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan expects his fellow Republicans to wait until the “last minute” to strike a deal that averts national default by raising the $14.3 trillion limit on the U.S. debt.
Failure to reach a deal could trigger a new global financial crisis, according to analysts and Democrats including President Barack Obama. But on Monday, the day the U.S. debt reached its current statutory limit, Ryan told an Illinois AM radio station that “we’re going to negotiate this thing probably up through July, that’s how these things go.”
from Tales from the Trail:
Your credit payment is due now…
CORRECTS POLL NUMBER ON OBAMA'S HANDLING OF ECONOMY
The United States is due to hit its $14.3 trillion debt limit today, and tensions are understandably on the increase with Republicans and Democrats wide apart on the budget deal the GOP wants in exchange for increasing the ceiling.
World markets and America’s economic future could be jeopardized if negotiators still have no deal when the Treasury Department runs out of tricks to stave off default.
from Tales from the Trail:
Bipartisanship on the White House menu
At a White House dinner with Senate and House leaders from both parties and their spouses, President Barack Obama got a standing ovation when he mentioned the demise of Osama bin Laden in his welcome.
"Last night, as Americans learned that the United States had carried out an operation that resulted in the capture and death of Osama bin Laden..." Obama said.
from Tales from the Trail:
White House shrugs off Obama comments caught on open microphone
The White House is shrugging off candid comments by President Barack Obama about private budget talks with Republicans. The next day's message is -- no big deal.
Obama was speaking to supporters at a political fund-raiser in Chicago after reporters left the room. But a microphone was accidentally left on and the comments were piped back to the White House press room and recorded by CBS News and ABC News.
from Tales from the Trail:
Washington Extra – Some explaining to do
Critics say President Barack Obama has some explaining to do.
So tonight he plans to do just that in a speech on U.S. military involvement in Libya at the National Defense University.
One question clearly on people’s minds is when will it end? But clarity on that question is unlikely since Obama himself probably doesn't know right now.
from Tales from the Trail:
One Washington day is not like another for Mr. Hu
China's President Hu Jintao was feted with full fanfare at the White House on Wednesday, with a 21-gun salute, honor guards and a state dinner. Things might not be quite so fancy on Thursday when he goes to Capitol Hill.
There he will see Republican Speaker John Boehner in the House of Representatives, then cross the Capitol to meet Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Neither bothered to attend Wednesday's state dinner.
from Tales from the Trail:
Washington Extra – START not yet finished
So far, the U.S. Senate has spent six days debating New START -- the strategic nuclear arms limitation treaty with Russia. Not so long, you say? Democrats are rushing it through? Well consider this, Congress has already spent longer on this agreement than it did on START I almost two decades ago -- and the original is a much more complex treaty.
It is not just President Barack Obama and the Democrats who support this treaty. Former President George H.W. Bush, a Republican, supports it. So does Republican Condoleezza Rice and every other former secretary of state who is still alive. And the military? Well those folks really support it, just ask the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the uniformed officers in charge of nuclear security.
