It’s like High Noon in Washington over debt limit
By Sam Johns
Washington (BNW)— It’s like High Noon in Washington over negotiations to try to reach a compromise on a bill that increases the country's $14.3 trillion debt limit. But, unlike Gary Cooper in the movie, Senate leader Harry Reid has some back-up. But the irony of the whole thing is the very people who are running scared about not raising the debt limit are the same ones who got everything tied-up over not wanting to tax the rich. In other words, the very people who are fighting for the increase national debt limit, are the same people fighting against taxing the rich. You go figure!
It appears the rich and greedy in this country want it all. They want an increase in the national debt limit, but they don't want to pay their fair share of taxes to get it done. The millionaires and billionaires on Wall Street and the big bankers only want cuts in social programs without an increase in tax revenue. They [Republicans] want to save the wealth of the rich and greedy in this country on the backs of the poor, by cutting entitlement spending on the one hand, and not taxing big oil and the rich in this country who don't want to pay their fair share.
With less than 100 hours away, Senate Democrats are gaining support by pushing their deficit-cutting bill, and getting support from enough Republicans for the sixty (60) votes needed to bring the bill to the floor. A hating mood appeared thick on Capitol Hill between Senate Democratic leaders their Republican counterparts and that awful smell of the Tea Party.
Reality Check: The very people who are begging for the increase in the country's debt limit, are the very people who are fighting the debt increase if it means increasing their taxes. Sound like a crook to me!
Apparently, crooked back-room deals hold out the best hope for a compromise in this corrupt government, and we sit back an elect these thieves every two-years. This type of control by the two party political system has left US high and dry. We gave them trillions to save Wall Street; we gave the crooked bankers trillion after the subprime leanding mess; we gave the auto industry trillions to help cover their mismanagement for decades. ...And, that's what we know they have screwed the taxpayers out of — we got the best government money can buy!
"There are multiple ways to resolve this problem," Obama, said in his weekly address. "Congress must find common ground on a plan that can get support from both parties in the House. And it's got to be a plan that I can sign by Tuesday."
According to Al Jazeera's Rob Reynolds, reporting from Capitol Hill, he said that the agreement would raise the debt ceiling until after 2012 elections, cut $1 trillion in the next ten years, set up a bipartisan Congressional committee and cut defence spending.
"A framework plan for reducing the deficit, and raising the debt ceiling is very close to becoming an agreement, a deal as it were, but it is not there yet, the cake is not yet baked," Reynolds said.
David Plouffe, a White House adviser, described the deal as a two-stage process, with a first set of spending cuts of about $1 trillion.
A special congressional panel would be established to recommend further deficit reductions.
Obama begged lawmakers to strike a deal and avert what he has said would be an "inexcusable" default. The drama moved to the Senate last night after the Republican-controlled House of Representatives finally passed a deficit-cutting bill, breaking weeks of delay by the Republicans themselves. That crooked Speaker of the House, John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress couldn't even get his billed passed. He had to kowtow before the Tea Party to get something done in the House, which means he’s no Nancy Pelosi.
The grandfatherly Sen. Harry Reid, leader of the Senate quickly killed that bill as expected, and will gutted Republican minutia that was added to the bill with the hope of picking up Republicans like Minority Leader McConnell, but Reid declined McConnell's offer to vote on it immediately — a sign that he does not yet have enough support for the bill.
America is broke; it has to borrow $40 for every $100 it spends. Unless Congress raises the debt ceiling, the government would be barred from further borrowing after Tuesday, according to the Treasury, and could quickly run out of money to pay all its bills. The Senate now is expected to hold that vote early on Sunday morning, setting up final passage on Monday morning, shortly before U.S. financial markets open.
"The country's in crisis. This is not a time for politics as usual," Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat, told a news conference. Most observers think McConnell wants to make sure the White House is involved to assure that any final package will make it past Obama's desk so the president has to take the blame if something goes wrong.
"We are headed for a debt ceiling extension," said David Kotok, chairman and chief investment officer at Cumberland Advisors in Sarasota, Florida. "The risk is that some accident causes actual default. It's not likely but possible."
Investors and foreign governments are likely to remain on edge, though, as procedural hurdles will make it hard for Congress to send a deal to Obama until Monday night.
Reid's revised proposal, which would cut $2.2 trillion over 10 years, incorporates parts of a "backup plan" first proposed by McConnell. The new version would essentially give Obama the authority to raise the debt ceiling in three stages to cover U.S. borrowing needs through the 2012 elections when he is running for a second term.
Obama and his Democrats had hoped to avoid multiple votes before the election.
Threatening to plunge world markets and economies into turmoil, the Tea Party continues its road of destruction. As the world watched in alarm, political gridlock in Washington has brought the world's largest economy to national default — the first time in the country's history. Let the government default, worse things have happened to the country, like slavery.