According to the Associated Press, Obama has set up a deficit commission and is set to back its findings including tax increases and painful cuts to retirement benefits that the president was unwilling to propose on his own. The 18 member bipartisan panel held its first hearing Tuesday in which witnesses said failure to cut the deficit could lead to higher interest rates, harm to the overall economy, and an erosion of Americans standard of living. Of course, their finding will be heard AFTER the mid-term elections. How convenient!!
Predictions!! We all know that tax increases will be in the works. In addition, we all know Obama's solemn and repeated promise not to raise taxes on the middle class. So will it be enough for Obama to point to the "expert" panel he set up and say to the American public that I had to raise taxes because they said I had to? Will it bite him in the arse in 2012?
Originally posted by whodeyThe idea behind this sort of thing is that since the panel is bipartisan, they'll be able to produce a plan that will have strong backing from BOTH the GOP and the Dems in Congress. I'm not sure if such a thing is possible, but the nation's fiscal future depends on us at least trying.
According to the Associated Press, Obama has set up a deficit commission and is set to back its findings including tax increases and painful cuts to retirement benefits that the president was unwilling to propose on his own. The 18 member bipartisan panel held its first hearing Tuesday in which witnesses said failure to cut the deficit could lead to higher i ...[text shortened]... that I had to raise taxes because they said I had to? Will it bite him in the arse in 2012?
The only realistic way to get the current budget under control is to distribute the pain in a reasonably even fashion. This will mean a broad array of spending cuts that will affect almost all special interests - and it will also mean some tax increases that will not be limited to only the "extremely wealthy". We can't rely on "cutting other people's programs" or "raising other people's taxes" to do this. We're ALL going to have to be willing to pony up.
It's going to mean that a lot of people will probably have to man up and woman up and break stupid pie-in-the-sky campaign promises. But I believe the American people are truly worried about the nation's fiscal outlook and will (grudgingly) accept a fair and balanced plan to address it.
If those tough decisions are indeed made to get the budget back into order, I would hope that the American people rewards everyone who makes those tough decisions, regardless of party, in 2012.
Originally posted by whodeyI don't see any of the current Republicans in Congress supporting anything Democrats support (well, except maybe the financial reform bill once push comes to shove).
According to the Associated Press, Obama has set up a deficit commission and is set to back its findings including tax increases and painful cuts to retirement benefits that the president was unwilling to propose on his own. The 18 member bipartisan panel held its first hearing Tuesday in which witnesses said failure to cut the deficit could lead to higher i ...[text shortened]... that I had to raise taxes because they said I had to? Will it bite him in the arse in 2012?