White House Formally Embraces Reid Deficit Plan
EmailAccusing House Republicans of walking away from deficit negotiations “after insisting that the budget be balanced on the backs of seniors and the middle class,” White House press secretary Jay Carney issued a statement embracing the deficit reduction approach of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., which he calls “a responsible compromise that cuts spending in a way that protects critical investments and does not harm the economic recovery.”
Reid’s bill would cut more than $2 trillion in spending, including money saved through the drawing down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – a technique Republicans assail as gimmickry though the House GOP budget offered by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., included the same savings.
Earlier today President Obama spoke to the National Council of La Raza saying “we can’t just close our deficits by cutting spending. … Not only is it not fair if all of this is done on the backs of middle-class families and poor families, it doesn’t make sense. It may sound good to save a lot of money over the next five years, but not if we sacrifice our future for the next fifty.”
The Reid plan contains no tax increases. Carney today said it would “make a meaningful down payment in addressing our fiscal challenge, and we could continue to work together to build on it with a balanced approach to deficit reduction that includes additional spending reforms and closing tax loopholes for corporations, millionaires and billionaires. “
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Rieds plan considers that cuts that were already in the works, such as the war drawdowns, as new cuts. That effectively counts them twice.
This is not spending cuts, this is trying to con the people of the US.
Posted by: win | July 25, 2011, 3:31 pm 3:31 pm
“Reid’s bill would cut more than $2 trillion in spending, including money saved through the drawing down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ”
Have particulars been released about this plan? Where are the other cuts? What baseline does it start at? All the President and Harry Reid have presented is smoke and mirrors and derision for actual proposals that can be debated.
Posted by: J.R. | July 25, 2011, 3:32 pm 3:32 pm
WIN – The war drawdown cuts aren’t being counted twice, only once. The way I understand it, the Congressional Budget Office requires a directive from Congress in order to officially count the cuts coming from the war drawdown. They haven’t gotten that directive yet.
Posted by: KyleIM | July 25, 2011, 3:42 pm 3:42 pm
Is any one else getting annoyed with the overused term “on the backs of seniors and the middle class. Who are the first people the president threatened might not get their checks if he didn’t get a raise in the spending ceiling – SENIORS AND VETERANS!!!!!!!
Who is taking more money out of middle class American’s pockets than the president by his policies?
Energy Policy: While leaving U.S. oil and jobs in the ground, our itinerant president tells a South American neighbor that we’ll help it develop its offshore resources so we can one day import its oil. WHAT?!?
He has brought us higher gas prices, higher energy prices, higher taxes, higher food prices, higher health care prices, and more regulation which means more FEES. Have any of you looked at your phone bill lately. One line for the phone charge, and EIGHT lines of fees and taxes!!!!!!!!!! American people, I don’t care what party you are, don’t care if you’re liberal, or conservative, but I do care that you are being enslaved by an out of control Washington. Congress and the president attack us at will on almost a daily basis, and we keep going to the voting booth, and sending them right back to Washington to take more of our money, and take more of our freedom. The blame for the mess this country is in lies at the feet of every American who sends the “professional politicians” as Obama calls himself, back to Washington to rape us some more.
Posted by: tia | July 25, 2011, 3:46 pm 3:46 pm
Harry Reid couldn’t resist referring to “corporate jet owners” in his typically whining statement earlier. He should sit down for a chat with his loyal constituent Steve Wynn at some point.
Posted by: Oliver Shagnasty | July 25, 2011, 3:58 pm 3:58 pm
Doubting Thomas: You may have a point. BTW, don’t hit the “Post Comment” button more than once. :)
Posted by: justuspofolks | July 25, 2011, 4:24 pm 4:24 pm
“The majority of Americans favor a compromise of spending cuts and tax increases on the wealthiest. So do I.”
Posted by: Blackie | Jul 25, 2011 4:05:31 PM
“Everybody has got to make some sacrifices, everybody’s gotta take a haircut.” – President Barack Obama, April 5, 2011
That includes you, tierra. Now eat your peas.
Posted by: Chuck | July 25, 2011, 4:35 pm 4:35 pm
I see Reid is up to his usual games and is now bringing “Monopoly Money” into play…Hundred percent of nothing is nothing…..Guess he is taking lessons from Jerry Brown’s budget and relying on PRETEND MONEY that is yet to be realized. If the ordinary citizen did this, called check kiting, we’d be sent to jail………………….
Posted by: Parallex View | July 25, 2011, 4:41 pm 4:41 pm
Oh. My. God. To call the wind-down of the wars “a cut” is a bald-faced lie. That’s not “a budget cut.” That’s “paying off a bill/loan.” Cuts come from making hard choices. It is no hard choice to stop paying for a war that has ended. I voted for Obama and would do so again, given McCain as the other choice, but from Obamacare to supporting Reid’s plan, he is making some terrible choices. I am a 63 year old moderate independent who leans left, but until Democrats get a clue that making a cut means slashing their sacred cows of Medicare and Medicaid – I may be forced to go with the greedy, warmongering, short-sighted bigots on the right who have proposed the radically inflexible cut-cap-balance plan. What a sad, sad predicament we are in with these two insane parties destroying our country.
Posted by: Damie | July 25, 2011, 4:58 pm 4:58 pm
What if…and what if’s are important factors to consider when negotiating a money contract…What if there was another crisis in the world that our military had to answer….WAR….but yet the Reid budgetary plan, OUR ECONOMY’S WELFARE, relies on savings from drawing down 2 wars in progress…Get my drift…Closing loopholes great idea…Relying on savings from the military war efforts not so great…
Posted by: Parallex View | July 25, 2011, 5:06 pm 5:06 pm
“moderate Independent who leans left.” NO KIDDING, never would have guessed that…
Posted by: Parallex View | July 25, 2011, 5:30 pm 5:30 pm
The dems will present a bill and we’ll learn what’s in it AFTER it passes — just like Obamacare.
Our Campaigner-In-Chief spent his time as a Junior Senator running for President. He has spent his time as President — ‘running for President’. He is not qualified to do his job.
Democrats took control of Congress in 2006. They took control of our White House in 2008. They have no problem governing AGAINST the will of the American people.
Obama, Pelosi, Reid and the other liberals, along with the biased media, Soros, Unions, Acorn, etc., based the entire 2008 campaign on lies. They simply cannot be trusted.
NO MORE CLOSED DOOR MEETINGS!!! Hold meetings on the floor where they should be held! So WE THE People can see for ourselves…who is serious! Closed door meetings looks like “business as usual” and obama is slick! The Republicans come out looking like the bad guy!!! That’s what the dems do! All the dems are just
words and image! Let us see and hear what is going on!!
We need to replace the Dems ASAP. God help us all!
Posted by: OBAMA VS. AMERICA | July 25, 2011, 6:15 pm 6:15 pm
Posted by: Slim | Jul 25, 2011 5:49:23 PM
A Hope and Changer is trying to use facts. As tierra would say, Cute!
Fact: The Democrat-controlled Senate has not passed a budget in over 800 days. By law, the Senate must pass a budget before considering appropriation bills.
So, technically, Senate Democrats are criminals, but we already knew that.
Posted by: Chuck | July 25, 2011, 6:16 pm 6:16 pm
Reid’s plan is just more Smoke and Mirrors.
Posted by: toby hill | July 25, 2011, 6:31 pm 6:31 pm
“White House Formally Embraces Reid Deficit Plan” – ABC News
Please let me re-word that headline.
Misguided Clueless Obama Admin goes for the Reid Loser of a Deficit Plan, American people scratch their heads and ask where’s the Massive Spending Cuts.
Posted by: Noz | July 25, 2011, 7:29 pm 7:29 pm
American people scratch their heads and ask where’s the Massive Spending Cuts.
Posted by: Noz | Jul 25, 2011 7:29:59 PM
No, the large majority of the American people support a compromise of spending cuts and increased taxes of the wealthiest of us.
What exactly didn’t the Republicans understand?
Posted by: Billy | July 25, 2011, 7:34 pm 7:34 pm
“No, the large majority of the American people support a compromise of spending cuts and increased taxes of the wealthiest of us.” – Billy
Wrong.
Posted by: Noz | July 25, 2011, 7:37 pm 7:37 pm
No Super Congress. Both parties created this “crisis” so they could push through the undemocratic Super Congress. A body of 12 would make all of our laws and elected Congress members could not amend the legislation, but only vote yes or no.
Posted by: Susan | July 25, 2011, 7:38 pm 7:38 pm
“No, the large majority of the American people support a compromise of spending cuts and increased taxes of the wealthiest of us.” – Billy
Wrong.
posted by: Noz | Jul 25, 2011 7:37:18 PM
“19 different polls taken since January . .. demonstrate that Americans support increasing taxes in order to reduce the deficit and inequality. Americans may not love tax increases, but they understand their necessity for deficit reduction.”
“An April CBS News/NY Times poll showed that 72% of people favored raising taxes on the wealthy in order to reduce the deficit. A March NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that 81% of those surveyed would support a tax on millionaires that would be used for deficit reduction, and 68% supported eliminating the Bush tax cuts on those who make over $250,000.”
Posted by: Billy | July 25, 2011, 8:11 pm 8:11 pm
How in God’s name is this a good bill?
How is Obama supporting this, when I just heard him give a speech about a balanced approach of spending cuts and revenue increases?
Where are the freaking revenues?
At the end of the day, all of this mess is the result of my fellow moronic Americans who elected George W. Bush not once, but twice.
The Bush Tax cuts, and the lethargic work on entitlement reform over the past two decades is the baby boomers eating the future…
The revenue shortage is going to put Generation X under enormous strain, and will hasten the revolution that is probably 40-50 years away.
Amazing that one failed generation has nearly destroyed America.
Posted by: David | July 25, 2011, 9:31 pm 9:31 pm
If we want all this crap to stop, then we need to tell the federal reserve to kiss our red white and blue asses. The production of currency needs to belong to the people. Instead of our government buying our own currency with interest from a damn bank that is privately owned by several of the biggest bankers out there. What hell is our government thinking? Obviously nothing. We the people to tell our leaders to sit this one out. We the people need to take control and make it OUR contry again. Because obviously our leaders are’nt capable of leading. I rebuke you.
Posted by: Nate | July 25, 2011, 10:09 pm 10:09 pm
Paul Ryan says he does not include the wind-down of the war in his estimate of savings.
He says the wind down is not part of the expenses, because it won’t be spent, but the lack of the expenditure is not counted as savings.
Posted by: MayBee | July 26, 2011, 12:01 am 12:01 am
The Republicans cannot vote for the Reid plan even though it satisfies their stated objectives – immediate substantial debt reduction without tax increases. The reason is that they have a hidden agenda – their real objectives are to have the Democrats cut Medicare so they can’t remind voters that Republicans voted to abolish it, and they want the debt ceiling to run out before the next election.
You cannot negotiate in good faith with people who have a hidden agenda.
Posted by: Flash Override | July 26, 2011, 12:34 am 12:34 am
“You cannot negotiate in good faith with people who have a hidden agenda.”
Posted by: Flash Override | Jul 26, 2011 12:34:24 AM
True. That’s why you can’t negotiate with Progressives like Reid. They’re not interested in solving any issues (otherwise, Senate Democrats would have produced a budget over 2 years ago). Progressives are liars and demagogues and they all need to be thrown out of office. In 2012, we can finish what we started in 2010 and make that a reality. Now that’s some Change I can believe in.
Posted by: Chuck | July 26, 2011, 1:05 pm 1:05 pm
You can’t negotiate with today’s Republican Party.
Their agenda is increasing the wealth further for the richest and corporations, while decreasing the wealth of the middle class and cutting programs that aid the poor.
Anyone who owns a small business or is middle-class should never vote Republican, unless you enjoy hurting yourself :)
Posted by: Lydia | July 26, 2011, 2:06 pm 2:06 pm