Leaders Agree To Push Big Questions Past “Cliff”

[octoberlib]

Source: Buzzfeed

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In their meeting at the White House on Friday, congressional leaders and President Barack Obama agreed that major reforms to the tax code and entitlement programs will not be part of legislation to avert the fiscal cliff.Instead, House Speaker John Boehner said a solution to the fiscal cliff should ensure that those larger issues be addressed in 2013, when lawmakers will have more time to craft long-term fixes."This is a construct all present agreed was needed," an aide to Boehner wrote in an email.


At the meeting, Boehner "said Republicans recognize neither side is going to get everything it wants, and noted Republicans have put revenue on the table to demonstrate their seriousness about finding common ground," the aide said.The meeting brought together Boehner, Obama, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The lawmakers agreed that proposed frameworks for a fiscal-cliff solution would be presented immediately after Thanksgiving.
Already, Democrats and Republicans have sparred over the issue of revenue, with Democrats contending that tax cuts for the wealthy must be allowed to expire, while Republicans have said that sufficient revenue can be attained by closing tax loopholes and making reforms to entitlement programs, including Medicare.


But, for now, leaders of both parties have agreed to put everything on the negotiating table.

Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/rebeccaberg/leaders-agree-to-push-big-questions-past-cliff

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I'm not fond of "both parties have agreed to put EVERYTHING on the negotiating table" .

[SoapBox]

1. "I'm not fond of..."

ditto.

[msongs]

2. more jaw jaw for the PR spin nt

[reflection]

3. What is the point of these meetings

if no one is going to discuss tax codes and benefits? No, I am not saying that benefits need to be cut. Quite the opposite. I'm saying that each side wants to alter one of those two entities, and if they are tabling both of them until 2013, then aren't they basically saying "let's let the mandatory spending cuts happen and we'll deal with the big stuff afterward?"

I've read the article twice. Am I missing something?

[John2]

13. The

President needs to do as he say and let the Bush Tax cuts expire. The Republicans were given an offer to extend taxcuts for a certain group and that should be the offer for now. He needs to keep his promise and get out of Afghanistan. Nothing should be tabled. I'm with the group that believes in this philosophy. Most people that voted for President Obama are the ones that put him in office. The pundits didn't and neither did the Republicans. He shouldn't break his pledge to people that put him in office in order to placate to people that didn't. That is who his primary obligation is to. He is going off on trips overseas but he was suppose to bring it to us if the Republicans didn't want to agree. I'm not scared of any cliff as long as the Bush taxcuts go. And then we can discuss things. Social Security and Medicare are not on the table or in the Sequestrian cuts either. The cuts are on the Defense side except veterans benefits and all the taxcuts given to the middleclass.

A lot of those cuts will hit people in the states that mostly can't afford them which are many red states. That means those states will have to raise taxes and they will also feel a lot of those military cuts in the defense Industry. Let them know and call the Republicans bluff. That is the only way to deal with the Republicans. He doesn't have to give them anything with the hand he has.

[BlueJazz]

4. Close tax loopholes +Tax rich @ 40 percent= Problem just about solved.

Thank you very much.

[dtom67]

7. Check those " loopholes " first...

The loopholes that the GOP are talking about are things like the deducting of interest payments on your mortgage, charitable contributions and child dependents...
Basically , we are talking about Middle class tax loopholes only.

So, a family with two kids and a 30 yr mortgage :sorry, no deduction for your mortgage interest.

Oh, two dependent children?,forget it, your tax evading days are over.

Capital gains tax lowered to 8% ?

coming right up...

[JimDandy]

5. Oh good, so it must be military spending they're going to cut for the fiscal cliff.

[L0oniX]

9. Of course they will put poor people over military spending.

Holding breath over this is not a good idea.

[DallasNE]

6. The Devil Is Always In The Details

Until we get some specifics there is not much to talk about. Want proof, just look at how much parsing is being done over the word "everything".

[L0oniX]

8. Create jobs = more tax revenue = no cliff. Too simple???

[dtom67]

10. its obvious...

They are going to wait till there is less scrutiny, before trying to lower Social security benefits. Sooner or later, they will try to change the cost of living adjustment to what they call a chained CPI, which is less favorable , compared to actual inflation. In this age of unlimited printing over at the Federal Reserve, this amounts to a defacto cut in benefits and weakens SS in the long haul.

[MannyGoldstein]

11. Good. Get past the lame ducks.

Make sure good and bad behavior can be rewarded at the ballot box.

[ReRe]

12. I would like to have more than Buzzfeed on this...

... If anyone can find an NYTimes, WAPOor AP article to back this one up, I would appreciate it. That is not what I heard when they came to the mic bank in the WH drive. Thanks!

[Lasher]

14. Translation: Obama will extend the Bush tax cuts into 2013.

Obama Vows Veto for Full Extension of Bush Tax Cuts

Jul 9, 2012

In an interview tonight with New Orleans CBS affiliate WWLTV, President Obama vowed to veto any bill that extends the Bush-era tax cuts “across the board,” including for individuals earning more than $200,000 and families above $250,000.

“What if Congress were to extend them for everyone across the board, including the wealthy? Would you veto it?” asks WWLTV reporter Karen Swenson.

“I would veto it,” Obama said.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/obama-vows-veto-for-full-extension-of-bush-tax-cuts/

Promises, schmomises.

[woo me with science]

15. Notice how they are called "leaders" now instead of "representatives."

Noticing this all over, even at DU: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1522513