78? Reid Said This In His Last News Conference - What Is This Number? .....

[global1]

I caught the very end of Reid's and the Dems recent news conference. He said something to the effect that they agreed upon a number and then said 78. Don't tell me that they agreed to cut $78 billion. I hope I'm wrong. What was he referring to when he said 78?

[CrownPrinceBandar]

1. I just heard Claire McCaskill say the same thing..........

I thought it was $38B?

[Tatiana]

2. I'm pretty sure he meant 78 billion. The Republicans wanted 100 billion in cuts.

As usual, we ended up bending over backwards to appease the hostage-takers.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

3. Probably the number of concessions.

79 crossed the line!

[sinkingfeeling]

4. CNN.com says the number is $38 Billion....

http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/04/08/congress.budget/index.html?hpt=T1

Reid insisted that negotiators have already agreed on a $38 billion cut from current spending levels for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends on September 30.

"The speaker is the one who came up with the number," Reid insisted. "We didn't invent it."

GOP sources familiar with the talks confirmed Reid's assertion that the two sides had settled on a total of $38 billion, but sources in both parties cautioned that the total could still be raised or lowered a bit.

[Pirate Smile]

8. The 38 is in addition to the earlier 40. When ppl say 38 & 78 they are talking about the SAME #####

It is just whether they are including the initial 40 or not. It means the same thing. They have been being used interchangeably by the pols & the press.

[inna]

5. good cop, bad cop, all the way.

beyond disgusting. tragic, actually.

[Parker CA]

6. I saw/heard that too and was wondering what he meant. Schumer whispered in his ear to clarify the

number, after which he listed some sections involved in the debate over the budget and said something to the effect of, "and with those the number is 78." He was not clear on what this number was, but the last number I heard being thrown around was $38B which is already about $5B higher than Boehner initially wanted.

[in_cog_ni_to]

7. Yep. That was the agreement last night until Boner called him and told him

it was a no go with his asshole Teabagger caucus. I forget everything he said, but it was discretionary spending and the Defense Fund ....and something else I can't remember. We went from $33(?) billion to $78 billion....and it's still not good enough. I want to know what else the Dems have given those freaks.

[Teaser]

9. BEFORE PEOPLE PANIC

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2011_04/028856.php

For the purposes of regular conversation, the new/final offer from Dems is $38 billion, as compared to the Republican demand for $61 billion, but for the purposes of the larger budget discussion among policymakers, Dems are offering $78 billion in cuts as compared to the GOP demand for $100 billion.

[napi21]

10. He did say 78 & also said they agreed to reduce Defense spending &

that's where the money came from. He said they have an agreement to leave the other proposed cuts alone. If I understood him right, that's good news. It's quite easy to reduce Defense spending by just eliminating one new weapon or ship, etc.