Posted on 07/10/2011 6:09:09 PM PDT by The Magical Mischief Tour
After meeting for exactly 90 minutes, the president and members of congress achieved absolutely nothing except for what ZH readers already knew: that a debt deal has to be reached by July 22 or else. "President Barack Obama said Sunday that "we need to" work out a debt deal within the next 10 days as he convened a meeting with congressional leaders, aiming to fashion a deficit reduction package for the next 10 years. As the meeting opened, Obama and the leaders sat around the table in Sunday casual dress. Asked whether the White House and Congress could "work it out in 10 days," Obama replied, "We need to." Despite Boehner's preference for a smaller, $2 trillion plan for deficit reduction, White House aides said Sunday that Obama would press the lawmakers to accept the larger deal. Republicans object to its substantial tax increases and Democrats dislike its cuts to programs for seniors and the poor. The aides, however, left room for negotiations on a more modest approach." And just like on Friday when the president's appearance was heralded as a harbinger of a massive NFP beat only to be the biggest let down since Geithner's TV appearances in February which sent the market down by 10 S&P points each time, so the president will address the nation tomorrow. From Reuters: "U.S. President Barack Obama will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) on Monday about the status of negotiations to cut the deficit and raise the debt ceiling, the White House said on Sunday. Obama met with congressional leaders for about 75 minutes Sunday evening and will meet again with them on Monday "to discuss the ongoing efforts to find a balanced approach to deficit reduction," the White House said, without giving a time for that session."
More from the AP:
"He's not someone to walk away from a tough fight," White House chief of staff William Daley said. "Everyone agrees that a number around $4 trillion is the number that will ... make a serious dent in our deficit." But embedded among the tough words was rhetoric that acknowledged the "big deal's" prospects had become uncertain at best.
"We're going to try to get the biggest deal possible," said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
It was an abrupt change from 24 hours earlier. Republicans late Saturday rejected the $4 trillion proposal, the largest of three under consideration, because its tax increases would doom it in the GOP-led House, Speaker John Boehner said.
The Ohio Republican informed Obama that a package of about $2 trillion, which bipartisan negotiators had identified but not agreed to, was more realistic.
Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky left little doubt that the $4 trillion deal was dead.
"I think it is," McConnell said. Raising taxes amid 9.2 percent unemployment, he added, "is a terrible idea. It's a job killer."
The statements threw into question the extent to which the Sunday meeting, called for 6 p.m. EDT, would move the talks toward a resolution as an Aug. 2 deadline loomed. That's when the nation would begin to default on its debts, administration officials say, if no deal is reached to raise the borrowing limit from $14.3 trillion.
One thing is certain: with each passing day until July 22 or T-Day, the day by which Congress has to pass the debt ceiling legislation, of which there are precisely 10 working days, the market, which has so far completely ignored any concern about a failure in the debt talks, will start getting increasingly more nervous. As a reminder there is a 4 week Bill auction this Tuesday: the last one priced at 0.000%. If the logjam in DC continues after Monday, something tells us the government will not get ultra short-term funding for free.
As for the spin free interpretation of what the "deficit deal" means for America, read our previous observations on the matter here.
Let the games begin. Obama is a Socialist out of OPM.
Obama = Epic Fail
Not another TV address!
4 billion in cuts coupled with no debt ceiling increase might actually make a small start in the problem.
More Kenyan whining. (((YAWN)))
Another new economic record for the Baraqqi Regime!
Phooey on the tax man!
Yet another televised Obama whinefest with ratings in the toilet. He’s adamant he wants to spend, spend, spend and tax, tax, tax. May God help protect us all from Obama, his democrats. and liberal media poised to rebuke republicans and conservatives because he’s not getting his way. Wah wah, wah.
Maybe someone will get sneaky and load a resignation speech into his teleprompter.
At 11 am on July 11 of 2011, 0bama will demand something be done by 11 days later. His ‘birthday’ is also on the 11th.
The way I understand it he wasn’t cutting 4 billion he wanted to get the money in tax increases with the promise of tax cuts later. Reagan fell for that one once and said he would never do it again.
Margret Thatcher:And I will go on criticising Socialism, and opposing Socialism
because it is bad for Britain — and Britain and Socialism are not
the same thing. (...) It’s the Labour Government that have brought
us record peace-time taxation.They’ve got the usual Socialist disease —
they’ve run out of other people’s money.
Shut down the government. All this talk about the Fed defaulting is a bunch of scare tactics. The government was shut down before under Clinton and it didn’t default and there was no panic.
This is really crazy. Why don’t the republicans in the house simply pass a bill that cuts spending and raises the limit? Send it to the senate. Volley the ball into their court.
If only the GOP leadership had this kind of backbone when they controlled the presidency and both house and senate. We might have gotten real reform, a flat tax, elimination of the education and energy departments and saved our republic from economic disaster.
I bet the dumb SOB would read it before realizing what it said.
I invested 48K of inheritance money the beginning of this month.
His talking ought to make the market drop another 100 or so.
From a leaked copy of the remarks:
“Let me be clear: Republicans love private jet owners and hate puppies, grandmas and everything bright and beautiful.”
“We, uh, need more stimulus spending to get out of debt. And internets.”
“I, me, my, me me my my I I yadda yadda.”
“Social security checks will not arrive in September.”
“And now I’m off to the links.”
No one is listening, Zero.
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