ptif219 (11-12-2012)
Granny says, "Obama gonna make dem rich folks pay dey's fare share o' taxes...
Obama: Compromise - but not on tax cuts for rich
November 9, 2012 WASHINGTON (AP) — An economic calamity looming, President Barack Obama on Friday signaled willingness to compromise with Republicans, declaring he was not "wedded to every detail" of his tax-and-spending approach to prevent deep and widespread pain in the new year. But he insisted his re-election gave him a mandate to raise taxes on wealthier Americans.
"The majority of Americans agree with my approach," said Obama, brimming with apparent confidence in his first White House statement since securing a second term. Trouble is, the Republicans who run the House plainly do not agree with his plans. Speaker John Boehner insisted that raising tax rates as Obama wants "will destroy jobs in America." So began the "fiscal cliff" political maneuvering that will determine which elected power center — the White House or the House — bends more on its promises to voters. The outcome will affect tens of millions of Americans, given that the tax hikes and budgets cuts set to kick in Jan. 1 could spike unemployment and bring on a new recession.
An exhausting presidential race barely history, Washington was back quickly to governing on deadline, with agreement on a crucial goal but divisions on how to get there. The campaign is over, but another has just begun. The White House quickly turned Obama's comments into an appeal for public support, shipping around a video by email and telling Americans that "this debate can either stay trapped in Washington or you can make sure your friends and neighbors participate." Obama invited the top four leaders of Congress to the White House next week for talks, right before he departs on a trip to Asia.
In laying their negotiating markers, all sides sought to leave themselves wiggle room. "I don't want to box myself in. I don't want to box anybody else in," Boehner said at the Capitol. Outside all the new the talk of openness, the same hard lines seemed in place. Obama never expressly said that tax rates on top earners must return to the higher levels of the Bill Clinton era, leading to speculation that he was willing to soften the core position of his re-election campaign to get a grand debt deal with Republicans. "I'm not wedded to every detail of my plan. I'm open to compromise," he said. But his spokesman, Jay Carney, seemed to slam that door. He said Obama would veto any extension Congress might approve of tax cuts on household incomes above $250,000.
Obama's remarks were choreographed so that a diverse-looking group of Americans stood behind him and dozens more were invited to pack the East Room. In the weeks ahead, he plans to pull in the public as a way to pressure Congress. "I am not going to ask students and seniors and middle class families to pay down the entire deficit while people like me, making over $250,000, aren't asked to pay a dime more in taxes. I'm not going to do that," said Obama. He said voters plainly agreed with his approach that both tax hikes and spending cuts are needed to cut the debt. "Our job now is to get a majority in Congress to reflect the will of the American people," Obama said. About 60 percent of voters said in exit polls Tuesday that taxes should increase, either for everyone or those making over $250,000. Left unsaid by Obama was that even more voters opposed raising taxes to help cut the deficit.
More http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obam...-tax-cuts-rich
That's what I said last Friday ... and I got put in the Hole the telling the truth.
There is no fiscal cliff ... it's all Bull $#@!!
No one was complaining when everyone knew extending the Bush Tax Cuts would add 900 Billion to the Debt.
But if you start telling the truth ... people will try to shut you up, rather than hear the truth.
Captain Obvious (11-12-2012)
Where They Draw Their Lines On Fiscal Cliff...
House Speaker John Boehner's and President Barack Obama's outlook for fiscal cliff
Monday, November 12, 2012 - There is one word that a person needs to understand to grasp what will happen in the standoff over the "fiscal cliff," the high-stakes standoff between Congress and President Barack Obama to avert steep tax increases and spending cuts on Jan. 1.
That word is "Batna." It comes from negotiation theory, and is an acronym for "best alternative to negotiated agreement." It is, for each side, what happens if there is no deal. Understanding what the batna is, for Obama and congressional Republicans (along with other relevant groups, like Senate Democrats and tea party House Republicans) is crucial to predicting how things will shake out. Obama and Speaker John Boehner of Ohio each have a batna, even if they don't use that term — a sense of what the world would look like if there were no deal. They also have no incentive to tell anyone what it is outside their very inner circle. But we can try to read between the lines of their public statements. If the nation goes off the fiscal cliff, there would likely be a recession in the first half of 2013.
White House line
So for Obama, the batna is a nasty recession to start his second term, which is not what any president wants. On the other hand, he has won re-election and will never again have to face voters. He and his team view the present-day Republican Party as intransigent and unwilling to be a responsible party in governing. If Obama sticks to his guns with the politically popular idea of ending tax cuts for households making more than $250,000 while keeping them for everyone else, and Republicans refuse to go along, going over the cliff may be the only way to force more accommodation from members of the House. It is a simple negotiating position: Either pass a bill that keeps tax increases for the affluent, or I will stand by and let taxes go up on everybody, even if it means a recession.
There is a caveat to this. The nation's legal debt ceiling will be hit around the end of the year, and by perhaps February or March the Treasury will run out of accounting gimmicks it can use to keep the debt underneath that cap. Obama might be willing to accept a normal, run-of-the-mill recession to get his way on policy. But his batna gets worse when he needs Congress to raise the debt ceiling; there, the risk is the U.S. government defaulting on its debt obligations, which could cause a global financial panic and lasting damage to the nation's credibility. If there is no deal by that point, Obama will have greater incentive to strike one.
Speaker's office line
Hint: there's a trampoline at the bottom.
So they say.
Come sit down beside me I said to myself
And although it doesn't make sense
I held my own hand as a small sign of trust
And together I sat on the fence
Anon. Very anon.