President Obama's Full Press Conference on the Debt Talks

[jefferson_dem]

Run time: 31:08 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVkzKVWK6pQ   Posted on YouTube: July 22, 2011 By YouTube Member: PBSNewsHour Views on YouTube: 99   Posted on DU: July 22, 2011 By DU Member: jefferson_dem Views on DU: 5660

 

[Tx4obama]

1. K&R

GO'bama go! That's OUR guy :)

[a kennedy]

2. NOW, THIS IS WHY I VOTED FOR THIS MAN!!!

sorry for yelling, but, GOBAMA, GOBAMA, GOBAMA. and screw the orange man, (although he's not that orange looking anymore) but screw him anyway......

[democracy1st]

30. LMAO!

[Stuart G]

3. k & r

[Number23]

4. Sorry guys, but is there a transcript of this anywhere?

Thanks!

[Tx4obama]

13. Here ya go ...

Transcript of The President's Remarks - and also the Q & A

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/07/22/remarks-president

[Grassy Knoll]

5. Johnnie Walker-Red

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Wow..a stump speech.

He sure has the Regressives painted into a corner, and is calling out Boner's hissyfit about it.

Intriguing.

[JBoy]

7. The last two minutes were the best.

[grahamhgreen]

27. But contradicted by the first two minutes.

[jefferson_dem]

8. They need to bottle what he said from 26:00 - end.

That's some powerfully strong, passionate sauce right there. From the heart...

Makes me proud to be a Democrat! :patriot:

[grahamhgreen]

28. Sauce yes, but where's the beef?

[Mrs. Ted Nancy]

9. I'm not as excited as others

When answering a reporter's question, the president said

"And I think that one of the questions that the Republican Party is going to have to ask itself is can they say yes to anything? Can they say yes to anything? I mean, keep in mind it’s the Republican Party that has said that the single most important thing facing our country is deficits and debts. We’ve now put forward a package that would significantly cut deficits and debt. It would be the biggest debt reduction package that we’ve seen in a very long time.

And it’s accomplished without raising individual tax rates. It’s accomplished in a way that’s compatible with the “no tax” pledge that a whole bunch of these folks signed on to — because we were mindful that they had boxed themselves in and we tried to find a way for them to generate revenues in a way that did not put them in a bad spot."

What?!?! Why does he want to protect the teabaggers? To me, he's letting Grover Norquist run the country. This is not good.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Mrs. Ted Nancy]

14. I don't understand your reply

I don't believe that the POTUS has to kiss my ass. I just wish he wouldn't kiss Grover's ass.

I didn't stay home in 2010. I volunteered quite a bit of my time to get Democrats elected. However, I live in Oklahoma; the state Democratic Party was not well organized 2010. The campaigns for the Democratic candidates were pretty much left to fend for themselves. The racism shown in 2010 was worse than I had imagined. The tea baggers, Republicans, and Reagan Democrats were very motivated and they turned out to vote. People who did support Obama (like me) were vastly outnumbered.

As for "folks like me", I think that I am in the majority of people who think the tax rates should go up for extremely wealthy.

You stated that you don't want me to run the country; good news... I don't want to run the country either.

Peace.

[Ruby the Liberal]

11. Norquist said today that letting the Bush/Obama tax reductions expire is not in violation

of his made-up 'pledge'.

That is the political cover Prez O was talking about.

[Mrs. Ted Nancy]

15. He kinda weaseled out on that

From a NY Times OpEd.

snip

Finally, there has been much confusion — some of it my fault — over whether the ending of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts or the A.M.T. “patches,” scheduled for Dec. 31, 2012, should count as a tax hike. If they are ended, the government will take in nearly $4 trillion more over the next decade than if they remain.

My position, and the implications of the pledge regarding such “temporary” tax cuts, is clear. If there were no vote in Congress and taxes rose automatically, then no politicians would have voted for higher taxes and no elected official would have broken his or her pledge.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/22/opinion/22Norquist.html?_r=2&hp

[Ruby the Liberal]

16. Weasel all he wants. Wall Street has spoken and the little Grovie Muppet needs to stand HUT.

[Mrs. Ted Nancy]

18. I agree. nt

[cliffordu]

12. Ah, bullshit. He offered them what they said they wanted knowing

they would NEVER accept ANYTHING he proposed or could take credit for.

Try to keep up.

:hurts:

[Mrs. Ted Nancy]

17. I get that

However, I don't quite understand why he would mention a "no tax increase and major spending cut" proposal knowing full well that the repubs would reject it and it goes against the opinion of a majority the population.

Is it this scenario: "Look... I offered more cuts than they were asking for and they still said no" situation? If so, I guess that he wants to frame the debate for the Sunday morning talk shows as showing the repubs don't want to negotiate.

His statement can also be seen by the public as this: "In January, he said he didn't support cuts to Social Security and now he offered a proposal to make severe cuts to Social Security". I think that can be seen as lying or caving in rather than negotiating.

He said, "we were mindful that they had boxed themselves in and we tried to find a way for them to generate revenues in a way that did not put them in a bad spot."

This seems to me that he is admitting to the public that his budget proposal was for appearances only.

I think he should have left that comment out and stuck to the "can they say 'yes' to anything?" theme. IMHO

[mzmolly]

38. Watch Larry O'Donnell,

he'll explain. http://thelastword.msnbc.msn.com/

[Mrs. Ted Nancy]

40. Thanks... very helpful. nm

[libmom74]

21. I agree. I'm not impressed when

the "Democratic" president holds a press conference telling us about how he tried to give in to all of the Repukes ridiculous demands, including wildly unpopular cuts to Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid but they still said no. WTF. It must take a steady diet of Dramamine in order to constantly spin and defend the garbage put forth by this administration.

[swilton]

23. I agree with libmom and Mrs Ted as well

This is a charismatic moment for the President - but I would rather see more action that helped working people and less charisma.

[Enthusiast]

22. I watched Grover Norquist

on C-Span's Washington Journal.

He insisted that Obama has raised taxes. He said that these tax increases and increased regulation are destroying small business. He was just plain repulsive. I have a shit load of complaints about Obama, I do not find it necessary to make shit up.

[digidigido]

19. You know we're screwed when Reagan is revered

[Kall]

20. W...T...F...

He was being careful to be mindful not to do anything to jeopardize the Republicans' fucking stupid and self-contradictory No Tax Pledge that they made to Grover Norquist, which they made of their own accord in order to appeal to a bunch of rabidly insane idiots? Because he was "mindful they had boxed themselves in?" While putting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid on the table for cuts?

J.F.C. And he wonders why shit can't get fixed.

[Creideiki]

24. He lost me at "big deal"

Forget the "big deal".

You'll have another crisis in 2 months leading to another potential government shutdown.

Crisis after crisis after crisis.

This is America under the Shock Doctrine.

[HopeHoops]

25. K&R

[grahamhgreen]

26. Social security does not add a nickel to the debt. FAIL.

[pam4water]

35. +1

[JJW]

29. Hold on there

Didn't Mr. O last December extend Bush tax cuts for billionaires and millionaires. He could have vetoed that trickle down nonsense. But even now he is willing to balance this give away to the have-too-much-already on the backs of social security and medicare recipients. Social Security funds are the people's money. They paid into it. Mr O and his buddies on Wall St shouldn't be stealing it.

[democracy1st]

31. he's using this so called bipartisan bs as a excuse not to pass any progressive legislation!

[swilton]

36. Not only that according to Bernies Sanders'

22 July interview with Tom Hartman (posted on DU under videos 'Lunchtime Interview with Bernie Sanders' - sorry don't have the link) but the proposals that Obama has are supposedly 'worse' than the gang of six and include eliminating the mortgage interest deduction on taxes.

[swilton]

37. Here are Two Links that Illuminate Better What Is Going On

With all of the news to watch - this is the most important issue and it is hard to see everything. But I have found that it is wise to take Obama's eloquence and charisma by being informed with another side of the story.


Debt crisis – Michael Hudson on Democracy Now
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x602883

Bernie Brunch with Thom Hartman - 22 July
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x602706

[Atypical Liberal]

32. The Republicans have fucked themselves.

The reason why these talks are stalling is because the Republicans have painted themselves into a corner.

They have sold their constituents on the idea of "no more taxes", and "only cut government spending".

The consequences have been disastrous for them, and will continue to be so.

Firstly, the first thing Obama put on the chopping block for the Republicans to eat was Social Security and Medicaid. Two government services that old white people in the Republican demographic, like my mother, rely on heavily. So now I get to rub it in to folks like my Mom, that, "Hey, you voted for the party who cuts government services, so I hope you like what you asked for!"

And of course another thing that Obama offered up on the chopping block was military spending, which strikes at the core of Republican defense corporation support.

I hate the "chess player" reference and think it is usually bullshit, but Obama has done pretty good in this regard, I think - he has given the Republicans plenty of rope to hang themselves with.

And now the Republicans realize it. They realize that if they have pushed and pushed and pushed for cutting government spending, Obama has given it to them, but they can't cut that as much as needs to be cut and make any progress. They realize that if they cut all of those programs it is going to bite them seriously in the ass, so they have to look to increasing taxes. But they have sold the "no tax increases" so hard to the Tea Partiers and the like that they now have to resort to word games, calling taxes "revenues". On NPR yesterday I heard the reporter asking a Republican if he supported increasing taxes, and he hemmed and hawed and said, "Revenues are on the table." "Revenues". They can't even risk saying "taxes" because their constituents will destroy them for raising taxes.

The Republicans aren't dealing at the deal table because they are caught between a rock and a hard place.

And I fucking love it.

[Stellar]

33. Sounds like something Lawrence O' Connell has been saying

for a couple of weeks now. :)

[mzmolly]

34. I've thought the same thing for a while now ...

Firstly, the first thing Obama put on the chopping block for the Republicans to eat was Social Security and Medicaid. Two government services that old white people in the Republican demographic, like my mother, rely on heavily. So now I get to rub it in to folks like my Mom, that, "Hey, you voted for the party who cuts government services, so I hope you like what you asked for!"

And of course another thing that Obama offered up on the chopping block was military spending, which strikes at the core of Republican defense corporation support.

Ya wanna cut programs? I'll give ya programs! ;)

[Divine Discontent]

39. horrible! Sen Sanders is meeting with about a dozen senators tomorrow to try and stop the Pres.,

and it is up to US, the citizens, to call our Senator(s) and Representatives to demand they do not screw us out of hundreds of dollars a month in the future, from our Social Security - and it is sickening to think this President is also pushing for cuts to Medicaid, like Ricky Scott has done here in FL (Rick is a Republican, and like Obama, he too likes charter schools getting public money, but that's another pile of sh*t), so please - CALL THEM!!!

US Capitol Switchboard Toll-free Numbers 1-866-220-0044 1-877-851-6437 1-800-833-6354 1-888-355-3588 1-866-808-0065 1-877-762-8762 1-800-862-5530

or [phone]