Here's the latest on the talks surrounding the debt ceiling today, after members of Congress convened just for an hour at the White House. There is no "breakthrough" reached yet, although the
President is pushing both sides to include a deficit reduction package:
Despite the angry reaction at the White House, officials said they remained hopeful they could reach a major deficit-reduction deal before the Aug. 2 deadline to raise the debt ceiling or throw the nation into default.
"I think we're all tired," an official said. "I think that's true on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue...The stakes are very high, and the President went a very long way to make not just a gesture but real moves along the ideological divide...and we are still focused on getting that done."
He still does not want a clean debt ceiling deal. Ever since he was a candidate, President Obama has repeatedly stressed the need to cut entitlement programs, and this is not some sort of 11th dimensional chess game where the President puts Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block as a major bluff to call the Republicans out for wanting their precious tax cuts. This is what he said right before he took office:
President-elect Barack Obama pledged yesterday to shape a new Social Security and Medicare "bargain" with the American people, saying that the nation's long-term economic recovery cannot be attained unless the government finally gets control over its most costly entitlement programs. That discussion will begin next month, Obama said, when he convenes a "fiscal responsibility summit" before delivering his first budget to Congress. He said his administration will begin confronting the issues of entitlement reform and long-term budget deficits soon after it jump-starts job growth and the stock market.
Despite the exuberant celebration at what some saw as a rope-a-dope by the President, the reality is that the President was taking very seriously the deal he was cutting with Speaker Boehner, which involved cutting Social Security benefits via the chained COLA, and raising the age of eligibility for Medicare. The Republicans weren't the dopes being played in this game, many of you were the dopes for believing the President wasn't serious about gutting entitlement programs.
“I can promise you we were very flexible on [the additional $400 billion],” a senior administration official said.
Boehner balked at that request, the White House officials stated, adding they were open to negotiating on it. The other two issues of disagreement, the White House aides said, were: 1. whether the repeal of the individual mandate in healthcare reform should be included in the trigger provisions and 2. how deep the Medicaid cuts should be.
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“On Medicare, we were identical,” the official claimed, saying the president had agreed with Republicans on eligibility, cost-sharing, premiums and other facets of the program.
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Every other major issue was basically agreed to, including raising the eligibility age of Medicare from 65 to 67 years old “over a long period of time,” the administration official added. Other general areas of agreement included extending the payroll tax, extending unemployment benefits and altering the Consumer Price Index on Social Security.
For anyone to think that the failure of yesterday's talks between Speaker Boehner and President Obama was a "win" for President Obama, one would have to ignore the many years in which Obama has stressed the need to cut entitlement programs, and stating that he wants to work with Republicans in a bipartisan fashion. The failure of the talks was because of Speaker Boehner's refusal to consider revenues, and he wanted further cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid than what was offered by the White House. Up to the point of failure, it was taken seriously by President Obama and the White House.
And the White House does not want to use the 14th amendment to raise the debt ceiling. They've ruled it out, and have not left themselves any wiggle room on that.
Now it falls to the House and to the Senate to resolve the debt ceiling issue. The current state of play, as reported by the New York Times is this:
In addition, Democrats have made it clear they will not entertain the type of deep cuts in entitlement programs that the president was negotiating with Mr. Boehner without substantial new revenues accepted by Republicans, so Medicare and Social Security may be off the table in the new talks as well.
In weeks of negotiations, members of the House and Senate have identified more than $1 trillion in savings that they could agree on, including cuts in federal agency budgets, farm subsidies, federal pension benefits and Medicaid. Those are likely to be the foundation of cuts in a new plan.
If the new talks break down, House Republicans could ultimately fashion an extension based on cuts they identify and send it to the Senate, daring lawmakers to reject it or the president to veto it.
Even though Social Security and Medicare may be off the chopping block, Medicaid is still on there. Any cuts to that program would adversely affect millions of Americans, the elderly, children, and the disabled that rely on that program. It shouldn't be on the chopping block.
My three-year old nephew, who has apraxia, needs Medicaid. He's saying a few clear words, but still has difficulty speaking. Therapy has helped him get to this point to where he can say a few clear words, but he has a very long road ahead of him. As long as Medicaid is in the mix, I will be working against that being in the final deal. My nephew can't afford these cuts, and neither can his mother.
Latest Update:
It seems that Speaker Boehner is now going off on the ranch on his own, as reported from a conference call.
An immediate deal would raise the debt ceiling and cut spending, Boehner said, and there are still options on the table for more comprehensive deficit reduction of between $3 trillion and $5 trillion, according to GOP sources on the call. He is also aiming for a framework in the form of “Cut, Cap and Balance” — the plan that has failed in the Senate, Obama has threatened to veto but House Republicans passed overwhelmingly.
The Ohio Republican also said his goal is to avoid using the Senate’s “McConnell plan,” which would allow the president to raise the debt ceiling at several junctures over the next year-and-a-half, subject to congressional disapproval.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be strong,” he said, according to one of the sources.
He wants to push forth this deal which is essentially a Republican framework of spending cuts and no revenues, and it does seem that he and the House Republicans want to push the nation to default. Speaker Boehner's just upped the ante, and is expecting President Obama to sign this Republican-originated plan. The Republicans just don't want any other plans to come forward. This is 1993 all over again when Gingrich shut down the government.
The good news at least is that Democrats have immediately started robocalls targeting House Republicans in their districts about their willingness to let the nation go into default. We'll see if that produces any movement, or whether the Republicans will continue to stand firm.
Please continue to take action on saving Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid from these draconian spending cuts. Our seniors' future and our children's present needs rely on those programs. Take action below by calling your Member of Congress to let them know what you think.
Today's Action
1) Contact the DNC (Democratic National Committee).
2) Contact your representatives and the White House (We will call for this every day).
Tell them not to cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid in any way, shape or form. Contact information is below.
Contact information:
White House
White House Comments Line: 202-456-1111
White House Switchboard: 202-456-1414
White House FAX: 202-456-2461
White House Email Page: www.whitehouse.gov/contact
Congress
Capitol Switchboard: (202)224-3121
(Just ask for your Rep.'s or Senator's office).
Look up your Representative's / Senator's contact information:
http://www.contactingthecongress.org/
Democratic National Committee (DNC)
DNC by email: www.democrats.org/page/s/contact
DNC by phone: (202) 863-8000
DNC by snail mail: 430 S. Capitol St. SE, Washington, DC 20003
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Spending Cuts Offered by President Obama
Here are more details about the draconian spending cuts offered by President Obama, which were very Republican-friendly:
Nobody disputes that, except for the revenue part, the administration and Boehner had agreement over virtually everything else. And it was a deal that, like Obama’s previous offers, was strikingly tilted towards Republican priorities. Among the provisions Obama to which Obama had said yes, according to a senior administration official, were the following:
Medicare: Raising the eligibility age, imposing higher premiums for upper income beneficiaries, changing the cost-sharing structure, and shifting Medigap insurance in ways that would likely reduce first-dollar coverage. This was to generate about $250 billion in ten-year savings. This was virtually identical to what Boehner offered.
Medicaid: Significant reductions in the federal contribution along with changes in taxes on providers, resulting in lower spending that would likely curb eligibility or benefits. This was to yield about $110 billion in savings. Boehner had sought more: About $140 billion. But that’s the kind of gap ongoing negotiation could close.
Social Security: Changing the formula for calculating cost-of-living increases in order to reduce future payouts. The idea was to close the long-term solvency gap by one-third, although it likely would have taken more than just this one reform to produce enough savings for that.
Discretionary spending: A cut in discretionary spending equal to $1.2 trillion over ten years, some of them coming in fiscal year 2012. The remaining differences here, over the timing of such cuts, were tiny.
The two sides had also agreed upon a basic structure for the deal. The agreement was to specify the discretionary cuts and implement them right away. But the entitlement cuts and new revenue were to be in the form of instructions to Congress, leaving it committees and eventually each chamber to write the legislative language and enact the changes. To make sure Congress followed through, the agreement was to include a failsafe: If Congress failed to enact the changes and produce the necessary deficit reduction, then automatic reductions to Medicare and Medicaid as well as automatic tax increases (mainly, expiration of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy) were to take effect.
Source found here.