Mitch McConnell: $4T Deficit-Reduction Deal Likely Off the Table

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News that he thinks a major deficit-reduction deal cutting $4 trillion over the next decade is off the table, claiming Democrats are pushing too hard for tax increases.

"Everything they've told me and the speaker is that to get a big package would require big tax increases in the middle of the economic situation," McConnell told "Fox News Sunday." He called the prospect of tax hikes a "terrible idea." The Senate GOP leader is the latest to weigh in on the rollercoaster negotiations that are set to continue Sunday evening at the White House. That summit is taking on fresh urgency after House Speaker John Boehner announced he was lowering expectations about the size of the deficit-reduction package that can be achieved over concerns about the rift between the two parties.

Boehner announced Saturday that he wants to focus on a package more in line with what was being discussed in earlier negotiations led by Vice President Biden. Those talks centered on about $2 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade. The White House in recent days had raised the bar to about $4 trillion, but Boehner dialed things back following a conversation with President Obama Saturday evening. McConnell backed Boehner on Sunday.

“Who ever makes the cuts needed to restore fiscal sanity we get pummeled at the polls next election.”

Well, what’s the point of holding the House, then? If the GOP is going to raise the debt ceiling based on some cuts 10 years from now, which everyone knows will never happen, what’s the point of the GOP being in charge? If the Democrats were in charge, we’d get a debt ceiling increase.

Furthermore, if the GOP controls the House, Senate, and the Presidency, and they believe they’ll all be defeated next election if they cut government and put us back on sound fiscal footing, they’re not going to do it then either. Seems to me, you’re either going to do the right thing and make the cuts, and then worry about winning the next election later, or you’re just going to do what every other spineless politician has done, pass it off to the next generation to clean up the mess.

We no longer have a representatice form of government where legilative branch differences are worked out in committee, congressmen write the legislation themselves, votes are taken and recorded, rules and procedures followed so that the the people can understand what is going on. Instead, the executive branch has intruded on the prerogatives of the
legislative, and decisions are now taken by the “leaders” of the two Chambers in the form of “deals” with the executive.

The press goes along with the charade by quoting those big 10-year numbers and often not even saying that they are 10-year (and unenforceable) numbers.

The GOP needs to drastically change its PR game if we’ve hopes of saving this country.

I hear you :)

The Marxists got us into this mess incrementally, "what's mine is mine what's yours is negotiable".

Demanding the GOP to solve our fiscal problem all at one time while they only control 1/3 of the federal government is not reasonable. And as a practical manner, it is not going to happen either.

I happen to be one that think the stuff will hit the fan soon, maybe even Aug2 although that seems less likely. But when the stuff does hit the fan I want the GOP hands to be clean, I would rather not give the Marxists the debt issue to bloody the GOP with. Some day soon the markets will solve the US borrow and spend problem and when that happens it will be the Marxists not the GOP that will be blamed. Then, maybe, we can restore the Republic. IMHO the GOP is playing this high stakes poker game exactly correct.

The Marxists are going to demagogue the GOP no matter what. So the GOP may as well fight, since the Marxists are going to blame them for everything anyway. The next election should not be the focal point as to whether or not we starting unraveling this government monster. Do the Democrats worry they're going to lose if they propose more taxes? Apparently not.

Since the GOP took the House, they have done nothing, absolutely nothing, to stop the Marxists. Have they defunded the EPA? No. Have they defunded Obamacare? No. Have they balanced the budget? No. Have the at least made a significant dent in the annual budget deficit? No. The GOP is terrified of fighting. Oooooooh if we shut down the government the world is going to end. Bull. At least then we might get some real negotiations, instead of this idiocy where we're haggling with the Marxists over billions, when we owe trillions.

For me, if the GOP punts on this debt ceiling issue, I'm done with them.

"It won’t matter who controls Congress or the Presidency. It’s inevitable devastation. If they endure it now, people will die. If they endure it later, more people will die."

This is absolutely and completely correct and accurate.

To balance the budget today would require a cut of $1.5 trillion. That's 10% of GDP...and when added to the approx $1 trillion of Fed intervention per year, fully 17% of GDP is "borrowed money"...in fact, just printed money. It has been for 3 years.

So how is THIS for a real Great Depression statistic: The Real Economy has been shrinking at a compounded rate of 15-17% per year for 3 consecutive years. At the same time the printed money has increased the cost of every commodity as that's the only place the recipients believe they can preserve ANY value.

If the balance the budget and end Fed intervention, the economy will completely collapse and the citizenry will be able to see the REAL impact of the Wall St./DC/Media mis-handling and fraud which has not only stripped them of much of what they had, but condemned their children to lifelong servitude.

I do not believe this republic would survive such a shock. Cities will burn. Politicians and Bankers will be tried and hung for their crimes.

There would be regime change in the USA.

Opinions differ on cause of commodity increases, and of the problems in general, but overall, its about numbers.

Numbers transcend principle. Numbers laugh at principle.

There is no fix. Prepare for widespread death.

posted on another thread... but maybe will get answers here:

How much do we “need” to get us thru this FY [oct 1 IIRC]? Surely it can’t be more than 16% or so of our annual budget [4.6 T?]

That’s close to 750 billion. Why are we increasing more than that? Why are we considering 2 Trillion in increase?????

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