Pres. Obama CRUSHES Notion That Both Sides Are At Fault In Fiscal Showdown (MTP-Video)

[bigtree]

Last edited Sun Dec 30, 2012, 05:09 PM - Edit history (6)

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In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" that aired Sunday, Obama upped the pressure on Republicans to negotiate a fiscal deal, arguing that GOP leaders have rejected his past attempts to strike a bigger and more comprehensive bargain.

"The offers that I've made to them have been so fair that a lot of Democrats get mad at me," Obama said.

The interview was taped Saturday while aides to the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., were engaged in negotiations in the Capitol in hopes of having something to present senators as early as Sunday.

"I was modestly optimistic yesterday, but we don't yet see an agreement," Obama said, referring to his mood Friday. "And now the pressure's on Congress to produce."

read more: http://www.wboc.com/story/20467970/fiscal-cliff-deal-would-pale-against-expectations



Wherever the line on tax increases ends up, Obama urged a vote in both houses on a final Senate bill if a broader agreement cannot be reached.

"Everybody should have a right to vote on that," he said. "If Republicans don't like it, they can vote no. But I actually think that there's a majority support for making sure that middle class families are held harmless."

"So far, at least, Congress has not been able to get this stuff done," he added. "Not because Democrats in Congress don't want to go ahead and cooperate, but because I think it's been very hard for Speaker Boehner and Republican Leader McConnell to accept the fact that taxes on the wealthiest Americans should go up a little bit, as part of an overall deficit reduction package."

Dismissing the notion that the Democratic Party is as compromise-averse as the GOP, the president said Democrats — "warts and all" — have more consistently agreed to components of bipartisan deals.

"What I'm arguing for are maintaining tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans. I don't think anybody would consider that some liberal left-wing agenda. That used to be considered a pretty mainstream Republican agenda," he said. "And it's something that we can accomplish today if we simply allow for a vote in the Senate and in the House to get it done. The fact that it's not happening is an indication of how far certain factions inside the Republican Party have gone where they can't even accept what used to be considered centrist, mainstream positions on these issues."

read more: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100345406



Lawmakers are seeking a last-minute deal that would set aside $600 billion in tax increases and across-the-board government spending cuts that are set to start within days. If Congress does not make that happen, the first bill brought up in the new year would be to reduce taxes for middle-income families, Obama told NBC's "Meet the Press."

"Now I think that over the next 48 hours, my hope is that people recognize that, regardless of partisan differences, our top priority has to be to make sure that taxes on middle-class families do not go up. That would hurt our economy badly," Obama said in the interview taped on Saturday.

"We can get that done. Democrats and Republicans both say they don't want taxes to go up on middle-class families. That's something we all agree on. If we can get that done, that takes a big bite out of the 'fiscal cliff.' It avoids the worst outcomes," Obama added.

And if all else fails, if Republicans do in fact decide to block it, so that taxes on middle class families do in fact go up on January 1st, then we'll come back with a new Congress on January 4th and the first bill that will be introduced on the floor will be to cut taxes on middle class families," he said.

read more: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/419265/20121230/obama-says-failure-to-reach-fiscal-deal-would-hurt-markets.htm



full interview in three parts via NBC: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/obama-hits-gop-refusal-to-negotiate-on-fiscal-cliff-in-wide-ranging-meet-the-press-interview/

You can also see the full interview here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/50323569#VpFlash

[bigtree]

1. .

[flamingdem]

2. I'm wondering what taxes for the wealthy are hiding

... as in the repukes have kept the focus there so long and so intensely that it makes me wonder what other things they are distracting MSM attention from --

[bigtree]

3. update: video

[bigtree]

4. .

[Poiuyt]

5. I'm enjoying seeing Pres. Obama getting tough

Nice use of the bully pulpit.

[bigtree]

6. kick

[Cha]

7. Thanks bigtree..

"David Gregory asked Obama what he thought it was about him that was so hard for the Republicans to say yes to."

"They say that their biggest priority is making sure that we deal with the deficit in a serious way, but the way they’re behaving is that their only priority is making sure that tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans are protected. That seems to be their only overriding, unifying theme. And at some point, I think what’s going to be important is that they listen to the American people."

The president is doing a masterful job of placing the blame where it belongs. He shot down the idea that he is responsible for a deal not being done. (This is the main Republican talking point, and the one that the mainstream media has happily latched on to.) Obama has taken his case to the American people, and shown the the deal that he offered Republicans.[/div]


http://www.politicususa.com/obama-calls-republicans-rich-protecting-deficit-reduction-frauds.html