Obama rips GOP plan, yet sees hope for a debt deal

[pinto]

Obama rips GOP plan, yet sees hope for a debt deal

By Ben Feller, AP White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON – With America's global credit standing suddenly in question, President Barack Obama insisted Tuesday that Washington has the political will to slash the massive U.S. debt despite fierce, fundamental differences with Republicans about how to do it.

Obama spoke hopefully of compromise with GOP lawmakers, yet still used a campaign-style town hall event to accuse the Republicans of offering a bleak future for the poor, young and elderly with their proposals.

The president seemed intent on assuring financial markets and the watching world that U.S. leaders will get their act together to address a suffocating debt — while at the same time trying to convince voters that only his plan would share the pain fairly.

Republicans didn't sound optimistic about compromise.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110419/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama

[jaysunb]

1. Deals are good...

as long as you have the winning hand. :evilgrin:

[bluestateguy]

2. Obama is not a negotiator

I consider it his single biggest weakness as president.

[jaysunb]

3. I disagree.

And the proof is right there in front of you, if you care to look. :shrug:

[pinto]

5. I see him as a poker player, of sorts. Whether that's an effective political approach depends.

Depends on the play of the hands held all around. It's been a mixed bag so far. He may hold his cards too close to the vest, in that analogy. Yet I like the recents from the President. Stump mode or not, he sounds more pointed and strident on the Democratic messages of late. :hi:

[txlibdem]

11. Obama's Poker

The President staples his cards to his forehead, facing out. The GOP gets to thumb through the rest of the deck and choose their cards.

Our President is such a great poker player!

[KoKo]

14. He has seemed to be trying to get things together....

and maybe he can be more forceful since folks will understand he's campaigning and has an election at stake.

I guess we will have to wait and see how it turns out in the coming months. Any ray of hope at this point..is what some of us hope for.

But then, there's that ugly stuff in the Middle East. That's not looking good with John McCain over there shooting his mouth off and paid Generals on CNN pushing to "shoot Ghadaffi's face off as a solution. :-( That's a quote from Major General "Spider" Marks to CNN's Candy Crowley this afternoon.

I wondered what little kids watching were thinking hearing him say that. "shoot his face off." Sheesh!

[Doctor_J]

7. He just doesn't seem to have anything that he'll stake his presidency on

anything liberal that is. "We will not replace Medicare with vouchers, period. We will not leave our most needy seniors without resource." I would like just once for him to provide a line in the sand. On anything.

[SolutionisSolidarity]

10. He gets what he wants.

That may be different than what you want.

[stevedeshazer]

4. +1

[Doctor_J]

6. He's talked a good deal on issues before

Hopefully he won't cave again.

[think]

8. Tanks to tractors

Isn't it time?

[pinto]

9. Good point. (nt)

[jeremyfive]

12. Based on the Most Recent Polling, the GOP Rips the GOP Plan, too.

By 70 plus percent. Somebody tell the clueless Republican leadership.

[NothingRight]

13. Negotiation and Concession are not the same thing

The struggle I have is the fact that the left has come to the table already having backed down from their originally stated "firm" position. There will be a public option, then it's off the table before a vote is taken, Bush tax cuts must be allowed to expire, then all of the cuts are passed for 2 more years, $6 billion in cuts went to $33 billion before we settled at $38.5 billion (but we spared Planned Parenthood for now).

These are not negotiations, especially when the legislation that ends up passing is then put on the floor for a repeal vote.

In the budget issue, the President released his 2012 budget long before Ryan released the "path to obscurity". But then after the Ryan debacle, the President holds a presser to announce his proposal to cut $4 trillion from the budget, oddly the same net result as Ryan's disaster strategy.

Why not just lay out there what has to be done to do things the right way, defend it like you believe it and make people understand it? If these tools can get 51% of their people to believe the President of our nation was not born in our nation, then surely we can get large quantities of people to understand basic principles founded in logic. The reality is no matter how much you try to spin it, 2 + 2 = 4 all day, every day.

Then if the GOP BS machine wants to churn out some document not even worthy of review, the pressure is on them to show why their ideas are better.

We continue to show a passive reactionary approach and it continues to fail. We either have the truth and we believe it, or we are the GOP.

[Enthusiast]

15. Ryan proposes an additional 10%

tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans -that will reduce the rate to 25%.

Obama wants to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire, returning the top rates to 39%.

Obama's strategy is weak. Just as it was in the health care debate.

Obama should have proposed increasing tax rates to 50% for the wealthy.

Obama will end up accepting a compromise of fewer loopholes and a top tax rate of 30% for top income earners. There will be fewer of the old loopholes but there will be new ones created with the signing of the bill.

Obama will congratulate himself and congress for achieving bipartisanship. Many of Ryan's medicare proposals will be adopted. Obama will tell us that he is proud to have had a hand in saving medicare.

Die hard Obama supporters will be angry when he is criticized. They will say he has fooled the Republicans in unknown ways his critics cannot fathom.

Just a prediction.