Clock Ticking for US on Debt Ceiling Limit On Two Fronts
As America’s partisanship-obsessed political class — Republicans and Democrats — provide full, unquestionable evidence of why they can never be called “The Greatest Generation II,” the clock is now ticking for the United States (and some say the global economy) on two fronts. The Christian Science Monitor reports:
The political turmoil over raising the nation’s debt ceiling now comes down to two deadlines: The opening of Asian financial markets later today (Sunday at 6 pm east coast time) and eight days from now when the Treasury Department says the United States could default on its financial obligations.
In other words: the clock has already almost run out – -and there could be an impact felt very soon. MORE:
Wall Street is watching closely, and I see you checking your portfolio there.
Metaphors abound.
In his attempts to craft a spending cut/taxes compromise with Republican House Speaker John Boehner, President Obama says he’s been “left at the altar” twice. Boehner likens working with the White House to negotiating with Jell-O. (About food, Obama uses an “eat your peas” warning for what’s needed by both sides.)
For Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the imagery is aeronautical.
“We’re running out of runway. We’re almost at the edge,” he said on Fox News Sunday. “I never thought they would take it this close to the edge.”
The precipice may loom (and any pilot knows that the kind of heat and humidity in Washington these days requires even more runway to get airborne), but the talks continue and Boehner says he’ll have a plan later today – in time (maybe) to head off bad news in Asia.
In any case, he says, “My last offer is still out there.” That’s a reference to major budget cuts and $800 billion in new tax revenues, which Boehner says Obama then tried to up to $1.2 trillion in revenues.
“I’ve never taken my last offer off the table,” Boehner told Fox News. Still, he added, “It may be pretty hard to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.”
The thrust of much of the reporting now is that the serious talk is among lawmakers of both parties – pretty much excluding the White House.
One exception: ABC’s senior political correspondent Jonathan Karl blogs that “Speaker Boehner and President Obama are once again having back-channel talks on a large-scale deficit reduction plan that would include cuts to entitlement programs and increases in tax revenues.”
“It now looks like the original framework is back in play – a deal with some $3 trillion in spending cuts and $800 billion in additional tax revenue,” Karl writes. “One source described the talks as Boehner and the president ‘footsie’ because the talks are indirect, and they are happening even as Boehner and the other Congressional leaders are attempting to negotiate a Plan B.”
As they say, “Hope springs eternal.”
But, then again, so does gullibility.
9 Responses to “Clock Ticking for US on Debt Ceiling Limit On Two Fronts”
If people who vote democrat have to pay for the excesses of those who voted republican, then default is better. A deal without revenue, a deal that rewards republicans for daring to take hostages, will be an enabling of the most heinous selfishness and resentment.
They got the tax cuts, and did so at an inopportune time. They coupled this with wars they didn’t plan properly for and also unleashed a recession with their deregulation experiment. So they must suffer. They must lose the tax cuts, as much as is possible without harming the recovery, because if not they won’t understand their basic responsibility towards the nation.
[yawn] They’re all creative with their analogies and metaphors while playing with the public. Let’s see what they finally put into writing.
Absalon, do you mean “tax increases,” rather than dishonestly misusing “revenue” the way so many other liberals are currently?
You do realize that the Dems have been as bad or worse than the Republicans, not only with the type of tax increases they want (scummy class warfare gimmicks), but by being mentally ill about entitlement reform. No serious long-term budget neglects entitlement reform, the worst part of our fiscal problem, spending.
Obama is also stupid for demanding any debt limit take him past the 2012 elections, in addition to his tax increase demands.
This is a lot of hype over some small reductions in future spending, some small tax increases, and no major reforms. In other words, they’ve agreed to kick the can down the road again. Since the parties agreed to that, now they’re playing hardline over the details. That description could also be used for the last budget battle, and a few more before it.
After you’ve seen the same movie a few times, it’s really hard to get excited about the ending.
They’ll kick that can as long as they can, and when they can’t do it any longer, they’ll retire.
Keep in mind, when they are kicking that can down the road, they are really kicking people, but in this dog and pony show those who are making the decisions are probably the the least likely to be effected by them. The thing is, if you don’t have anything at stake (except perhaps re-election) then how much can you really have invested in the outcome? That disconnect is what makes it easy for irresponsible politicians to hold the rest of the country hostage. Sure would be nice to see some accountability for that.
Yes, they (we) indeed will be affected. (So will the taxpayers then.)
Perhaps you haven’t read it before, but as I told Shannon Lee[e], I’ve been affluent and I’ve been poor, and know what it’s like to be both. That adds tangibility to what nobody has to be either to know: facts.
“not only with the type of tax increases they want (scummy class warfare gimmicks”
It’s only class warfare when people start defending themselves.
“but by being mentally ill about entitlement reform.”
Death panels. Trying to nationalize one sixth of the US economy. Freedom will die. All employers will die. We will all die forever. And other favorites from the healthcare reform debate.
DLS, I’ve been affluent and I’ve been poor too, but my values (including how they have informed my political opinions) have remained the same throughout. The citizens of this country simply cannot afford to turn their backs (or worse yet, support) a system that is sucking the life and conscience out of all that made this country good in the first place. Your precious GOP either doesn’t realize this or doesn’t care.
My values haven’t changed, though I’ve also not been reluctant to learn from my experiences. Many liberals either are reluctant or so much more often, they’re incompetent with grasping reality.
“Your precious GOP” reveals or exposes some incompetence, e.g..