All the Democrats have to do is let the bush tax cuts expire. This does NOT have to be negotiated,

[still_one]

and yet this administration is trying to sell it as a concession?#$%#

It was also just reported on Bloomberg that both bayner and obama agree on increase the eligibility age for medicare

Our only hope is the Democrats in Congress to stop this bullshit from occurring

[dkf]

1. Letting the bush tax cuts expire will raise more revenue than any of the plans we are negotiating.

Which is why our insistence on raising taxes in the debt ceiling talks makes no sense at all.

[Pholus]

5. That's what I said the LAST time they were going to expire. Then they got held "hostage."

[dkf]

11. I can understand that the economy couldn't handle it back then.

But they are talking about doing it sooner so it seems not to be a concern anymore.

[WI_DEM]

2. I'd even support letting the extra $9 in my pay check from the Obama tax cut

expire to save MC and SS.

[still_one]

8. What a disaster /nt

[flamingdem]

3. Just to add: the Medicare eligibility was said to kick in in 2038 previously nt

[still_one]

6. They didn't make it clear on Bloomberg, however, that is still a no go for me. How many people who

are 65 can get affordable insurance before medicare?

If their argument is that the HCR will cover them that doesn't cut it for me either, since there is absolutely no evidence the the HCR is actually going to be cheaper for those that currently have insurance, or that it will not be watered down or even exist by that time

[OHdem10]

4. So far on C Jansing MSNBC: At this moment 9:30ish am,

the Deal right now has cuts up front and Taxes down the
road. Instead of ever changing GWB Tax cuts, later on we
reform the tax code lowering Corporate Taxes.

According to Jansing, the Democrats on the Hill are furious
over this. They want some revenues up front if we are
making all these cuts. ie, the Mortgage Deduction is gone
but nothing is required of Corporations and their subsidies.

That is it at the moment. Take a breath and things may change.

[still_one]

7. Getting rid of the mortgage deduction will sure help housing, NOT /nt

[kick-ass-bob]

13. Getting rid of the mortgage deduction will cripple the MC further.

The homeowners barely holding on as it is will suffer another hit.

[still_one]

15. no kidding /nt

[brooklynite]

9. This will NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM...

...because the Bush Tax cuts have nothing to do with the debt limit. The debt limit is the upper limit of spending for existing borrowing and current spending. Even if you could credit the expiration of the tax cuts (and you CAN'T because they don't expire until the end of 2012), you'd still hit the debt limit, and the Republicans would refuse to raise it without an acceptable budget deal.

[Quezacoatl]

10. The Bush tax cuts already expired.

They are now the Obama tax cuts

[bowens43]

17. true nt

[bigwillq]

18. ....

:thumbsup:

[chill_wind]

12. TPM today:

Democrats favored one proposal: if Congress failed to pass tax reform by date-certain, then the top-bracket Bush tax cuts would expire -- a hefty stick that would encourage Republicans to cut a deal. Boehner never agreed to that -- and now that the grand bargain has been revived, Democrats are worried that Obama has abandoned that trigger, and perhaps his insistence on a trigger of any kind.

Multiple reports surfaced late Thursday that a trade-off might be in the works: Republicans would agree to the tax trigger if Obama and Dems would agree to nix the health care law's individual mandate -- an unpopular, but crucial component of the reforms Obama signed last year. This is precisely the sort of swap House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has argued for recently.

Referring to negotiations with Democrats, Cantor last week told reporters, "Every time the discussion started about, well, Republicans need to raise taxes, I would proffer back, then you put ObamaCare repeal on the table."

By multiple accounts, Democrats left Thursday's White House meeting unhappy.

That leaves us at crunch time. After Friday's symbolic vote on Cut, Cap, and Balance, the President and Congressional leaders will have about 48 hours to announce a deal that can pass both Houses. If that doesn't happen, Reid will file cloture on a fallback plan -- Plan Z -- he's negotiated with Mitch McConnell to avert catastrophe. According to top Senate Democratic and Republican aides, that plan's largely written, sitting on a shelf, and ready to go if the prospects for a bigger deal diminish.

If Senate conservatives do all they can to delay Plan Z, it could take the Senate until Friday to pass it. And if the House adheres to its own rules, which requires legislation to be publicly available for 72 hours before a final vote -- the debt limit bill won't be ready for the President to sign until a week from Monday, one day before Treasury's drop-dead date August 2.

Reid would be able to pause that plan if a bigger deal manifests between now and the middle of next week. At that point legislators could pass a days-long extension of the country's borrowing authority while the grand bargain was drafted, scored, and put to a vote. But he has to set things in motion imminently, or the government will reach August 2 empty handed.

Democrats Set Drop-Dead Date For Debt Ceiling Backup Plan
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/07/democrats-set-drop-dead-date-for-debt-ceiling-backup-plan.php

[Buns_of_Fire]

14. I doubt the */Obama Tax Cuts will be allowed to expire.

And that "holiday" on the payroll tax? It won't be allowed to expire, either.

No, I have no good, referencable, linkable reasons for feeling this. Just a hunch.

[bowens43]

16. exactly.

don't pass any bill that extends it. Pretty simple really.

[onenote]

19. the "bush tax cuts" impacted all brackets, not just the higher brackets

Allowing the bush tax cuts to expire in toto isn't an option since it would constitute a tax hike on the middle class. So you need legislation to extend those while letting the upper bracket cuts expire. And that will require a negotiation with the repubs.

[Cherchez la Femme]

20. That's all that was needed a few months ago too

so guess what's going to happen in future?