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Unemployment Climbs,
Markets get Nervous, and the Debate Goes On
County News Online has been following the Debt Ceiling debate as the
deadline continues to grow closer. Amidst references to no Social
Security checks, Medicare defaults and no pay for the military from the
President’s Office and a required budget cut equal to or greater than
the debt increase from the Speaker’s Office, the far right has said
“let it happen” and the far left says “more taxes are needed.”
The general consensus is that an “unprecedented default would be
disastrous.”
Monday night, Pres. Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner
postponed “Two and a Half Men” by about 25 minutes to present their
case - once again - to the American People.
Obama called for Americans to let the far right Republicans know they
want a compromise. Politico reports that “Since the prime-time,
televised speech aired, websites for Hill leaders have been down and
other Congressional sites have been on the fritz, including the House
Democrats’ Budget Committee site. The New York delegation’s sites have
been down, also.”
Boehner said that when they got close to a deal, Obama changed his mind
yet again. He won’t take “yes” for an answer.
Following are out-takes from Politico, Newsmax and Redstate, followed
by a Politico story and links to the complete text of both addresses.
Politico...
President Barack Obama called on the American people Monday night to
send the message to Congress that it must approve a “balanced” approach
to resolving the stalemate over the debt ceiling and deficit.
“People are fed up with a town where compromise has become a dirty
word,” Obama said in a televised speech from the White House, endorsing
the plan put forward by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and rejecting
the “cuts only” approach of House Speaker John Boehner.
Newsmax...
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a blunt challenge to President Barack Obama, House
Republicans drafted legislation Monday to avert a threatened Aug. 2
government default — but along lines the White House has already
dismissed. U.S. financial markets shrugged off the uncertainty.
According to a GOP aide familiar with the emerging House bill, it would
provide for an immediate $1 trillion increase in the government’s $14.3
trillion debt limit in exchange for $1.2 trillion in cuts in federal
spending.
The measure also envisions Congress approving a second round of
spending cuts of $1.8 trillion or more in 2012, passage of which would
trigger an additional $1.6 trillion in increased borrowing authority.
Also from Newsmax:
Christopher Ruddy...
As the Aug. 2 debt-ceiling deadline looms, we should applaud House
Speaker John Boehner for standing firm and not being rolled over by
those in the White House and their media campaign. Boehner has not
yielded to demands for new taxes and reducing spending cuts.
From Redstate...
Take note GOP leadership: This is not time to think about the political
ramifications. This is not the time to balance against what
others might say about you in a campaign speech or television
commercial. In short, this is not the time to think about
yourselves.
This is the time where you show us why we haven’t given up on
you. The time where you force the Obama administration to own the
crisis that they have made. Any claims to an inheritance of this
problem have completely lost credibility. It’s time for the rude
awakening that the left is trying to delay, to finally and at long last
happen.
It is time for you to do the right thing. It is time for you to
stand up for us. Do the right thing.
Politico’s story on Monday night’s prime time addresses...
Debt ceiling
speeches: Obama reasserts himself; Boehner pushes back
By Carrie Budoff Brown & Glenn Thrush
President Barack Obama elbowed his way back into the debt ceiling
debate Monday night, three days after Republicans shoved him out, but
he offered no hint of a solution to the escalating political and
financial crisis.
If regular citizens — or markets here and overseas — were looking for
reassurance in Obama’s 15-minute speech or House Speaker John Boehner’s
five-minute rebuttal, they were out of luck. Instead, the men who hold
the fiscal destiny of nearly 312 million people in their hands treated
viewers to the unsettling spectacle of two leaders talking past, not
to, each other.
With neither Obama nor House Republicans yet willing to make the final
compromise necessary to seal a deal, the leader of the free world made
a stunning appeal for regular citizens to call or email their
representatives to end what he called the “most dangerous game.”
“This is no way to run the greatest country on Earth. … We can’t allow
the American people to become collateral damage to Washington’s
political warfare,” Obama added. “If you want a balanced approach to
reducing the deficit, let your member of Congress know.”
The tactic seemed to have the desired effect, temporarily overwhelming
the website of Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders.
Obama did call for unity, quoting Ronald Reagan and citing former
presidents from both parties who support a “balanced approach” of
spending cuts, revenue increases and entitlement reforms. But he also
bashed Republicans, arguing that their tactics “risk sparking a deep
economic crisis — one caused almost entirely by Washington” and
categorically rejected Boehner’s new plan for a short-term debt ceiling
hike.
Read the rest of the story at Politico
Following are the selected texts of both addresses
Monday Night, 9 p.m.
President Obama... Both Parties
Have a Responsibility to Solve this Problem
Good evening. Tonight, I want to talk about the debate we’ve been
having in Washington over the national debt -- a debate that directly
affects the lives of all Americans...
Because neither party is blameless for the decisions that led to this
problem, both parties have a responsibility to solve it. And over
the last several months, that’s what we’ve been trying to do. I
won’t bore you with the details of every plan or proposal, but
basically, the debate has centered around two different approaches.
The first approach says, let’s live within our means by making serious,
historic cuts in government spending. Let’s cut domestic spending
to the lowest level it’s been since Dwight Eisenhower was
President. Let’s cut defense spending at the Pentagon by hundreds
of billions of dollars. Let’s cut out waste and fraud in health
care programs like Medicare -- and at the same time, let’s make modest
adjustments so that Medicare is still there for future
generations. Finally, let’s ask the wealthiest Americans and
biggest corporations to give up some of their breaks in the tax code
and special deductions...
The only reason this balanced approach isn’t on its way to becoming law
right now is because a significant number of Republicans in Congress
are insisting on a different approach -- a cuts-only approach -– an
approach that doesn’t ask the wealthiest Americans or biggest
corporations to contribute anything at all. And because nothing
is asked of those at the top of the income scale, such an approach
would close the deficit only with more severe cuts to programs we all
care about –- cuts that place a greater burden on working families...
Read Pres. Obama’s speech here
Monday Night, appx. 9:20 p.m.
House Speaker John Boehner... The
President would not take Yes for an Answer
“Before I served in Congress, I ran a small business in Ohio. I was
amazed at how different Washington DC operated than every business in
America. Where most American businesses make the hard choices to pay
their bills and live within their means, in Washington more spending
and more debt is business as usual.
“I’ve got news for Washington – those days are over.
“President Obama came to Congress in January and requested business as
usual -- yet another routine increase in the national debt limit -- we
in the House said ‘not so fast.’ Here was the president, asking for the
largest debt increase in American history, on the heels of the largest
spending binge in American history.
“Here’s what we got for that spending binge: a massive health care bill
that most Americans never asked for. A ‘stimulus’ bill that was more
effective in producing material for late-night comedians than it was in
producing jobs. And a national debt that has gotten so out of hand it
has sparked a crisis without precedent in my lifetime or yours...
“Last week, the House passed such a plan, and with bipartisan support.
It’s called the ‘Cut, Cap, and Balance’ Act. It CUTS and CAPS
government spending and paves the way for a Balanced Budget Amendment
to the Constitution, which we believe is the best way to stop
Washington from spending money it doesn’t have. Before we even passed
the bill in the House, the President said he would veto it...
“Unfortunately, the president would not take yes for an answer. Even
when we thought we might be close on an agreement, the president’s
demands changed.
“The president has often said we need a ‘balanced’ approach -- which in
Washington means: we spend more... you pay more. Having run a small
business, I know those tax increases will destroy jobs...
Read Speaker Boehner’s speech here
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