by Frank James
President Barack Obama spoke between meetings with House and Senate Republicans and called for keeping politics in check during the debate over his $875 billion economic stimulus proposal.
Here's a transcript of his brief comments.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: They -- they want me to say hi. Hello, everybody.
Q Hello.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: We had a very constructive meeting with the House members, members of the Republican Caucus. I'm a little bit late for my Senate colleagues, former Senate colleagues.
And the main message I have is that the statistics every day underscore the urgency of the economic situation. The American people expect action. They want us to put together a recovery package that puts people back to work, that creates investments that assure our long-term energy independence, an effective health care system, an education system that works. They want our infrastructure rebuilt, and they want it done wisely, so that we're not wasting taxpayer money.
As I explained to the Republican House Caucus and I will explain to my former Senate colleagues, the recovery package that we've proposed and is moving its way through Congress is just one leg in a multi-legged stool. We're still going to have to have much better financial regulation. We've got get credit flowing again. We're going to have to deal with the troubled assets that many banks are still carrying and that make the -- that have locked up the -- the credit system. We're going to have to coordinate with other countries because we now have a global problem.
am absolutely confident that we can deal with these issues, but the key right now is to make sure that we keep politics to a minimum. There are some legitimate philosophical differences with parts of my plan that the Republicans have, and I respect that. In some cases, they may just not be as familiar with what's in the package as I would like. I don't expect a hundred percent agreement from my Republican colleagues, but I do hope that we can all put politics aside and do the American people's business right now.
All right?
Q Sir -- (off mike) -- subject?
Q (Off mike) -- votes?
(Cross talk.)
(No audible replies.)
END.
Comments
Gonna be a little hard when the other side is hoping for failure......just sayin'
Posted by: bill r. | January 27, 2009 3:47 PM
What’s up with the Republicans? Have they no sense that their policies have sent the country hurtling down the road to ruin? Are they so divorced from reality that in their delusionary state they honestly believe we need more of their tax cuts for the rich and their other forms of plutocratic irresponsibility, the very things that got us to this deplorable state?
Boehner has to stop fixating on "the size of the package".
Posted by: Big Orange Satan | January 27, 2009 4:24 PM
Big Orange John E.,
Explain to me how tax cuts for the rich or anyone else got us into this deplorable state. And if that is true, then explain to me why Obama isn't calling for immediate repeal of said tax cuts if they are indeed the cause of so much damage. I patiently await your response.
Posted by: Herbie H. | January 27, 2009 4:51 PM
Explain to me how tax cuts for the rich or anyone else got us into this deplorable state. And if that is true, then explain to me why Obama isn't calling for immediate repeal of said tax cuts
Posted by: Herbie H. | January 27, 2009 4:51 PM
Obama knows that the beloved Republican tax cuts for the rich are going to expire and rather than make an issue out of it, where wingnuts like yourself can cry about it, he's going to let it take its course. In the meantime, I will patiently await for your head to explode.
Posted by: Purple Haze | January 27, 2009 5:27 PM
Herbie, Tax cuts reduce our revenue, thus increase our debt. 10% of our expenses are now annually paid on the interest of borrowed money. 10% of $3T is $300B. What can $300B do, well, CA just passed their 5 year stimulus bill for the 8th largest economy in the world, and they are spending $85B.
If you still do not understand the stupidity of cutting off your revenue stream, just ask the banks how that is faring for them. Maybe we should just reduce your revenue stream and tell you that it is a good thing.
Obama is obviously including that garbage in their to appease the pugs....you know that. If pugs did not exist (wouldn't that be a wonderfully safe world), I doubt Obama would be moving the tax level either up nor down.
Get it.
Got it.
Good.
Next topic.
Posted by: Xcellentform | January 27, 2009 6:29 PM
Herbie,
The good thing about federal spending is that it's actually spent, that it actually does boost the economy, and if it's infrastructure it also leaves you with something of value afterward. Whereas, if you do it the way that Republicans want to do it, which is always tax breaks for the rich, first of all, it might not be spent so it might not help the economy at all, and then you got nothing to show for it when the thing is over.
Haven't we already been through this? Conservative economics are brutal to our society. We've had to deal with Reaganomics, trickle-down, enormous tax cuts for the richest of the rich by BushCo, and just last year a $160 billion tax rebate (borrowed from our children) that according to Rep. Defazio (in the clip above) gave us 00.0625% boost for the year (.25% x .25 years). Yet we are getting hammered daily with lay offs and job losses the likes of which this country hasn't seen in 60 years.
Don't get me wrong, I still believe tax cuts for the middle class do have a place in this package. Many families are struggling. And I also very strongly believe in President Obama's ability to lift us up out of this mess.
If tax-cuts were the magic bullet it would be like the roaring 20s right now. Bushco had their way on everything they wanted, including the biggest tax-cuts ever, and plenty of time to make them work (8 long years!). Trickle-down economics is the biggest lie in recorded history. The super-rich didn't get that way by not holding on to their money, they horde it and then move it to off shore accounts. How many more years will it take for us to get the picture?
All of the money is at the top. I say tax the crap out of super-rich, and only give them relief if they create jobs and increase wages for US workers. Low-wage workers are a burden on our social infrastructure(Medicaid, emergency healthcare, housing assistance, food stamps etc.) Make these greedy clowns pay through the nose, if they're too cheap to pay their workers a living wage
Thanks for playing...
Posted by: Big Orange Satan | January 27, 2009 7:03 PM
Xcellentform,
First, you use the term "tax cuts" and that can mean many different things (personal income, business, capital gains, etc.). I don’t know what context Orange Satan was using it in either, which is why I asked him to explain. Regardless, lowering tax rates does not necessarily reduce revenue. Take capital gains taxes for example. If too high it discourages investment. Too low, and revenue is lost. A happy medium has to be found. Do you really believe that raising the CG tax to say 80% would increase revenue? That's like saying McDonalds would increase their revenues if they started charging $100 for a Big Mac.
Second, you seem to imply that federal debt/deficits are the root cause of the current economic crisis. You don't really tie up that causal relationship, and I'd be interested in a more detailed analysis re that. If you really believe deficits are the root cause of the current financial crisis, I can only assume you are adamantly opposed to Obama et al adding a trillion to it. Obama feels the opposite that you do. He is willing to sacrifice short term deficits to stimulate GDP; implicitly acknowledging that deficits are not the root cause of the current financial crisis, but rather a freeze on credit, and as a corollary, consumer spending.
I do agree with you that the federal debt is ridiculous. I would support a Constitutional Amendment that barred Congressional budgets from deficit spending unless in cases of war or national emergency. But there is another factor here. You focus all on taxes/revenue. Why not spending? The fed government spends ridiculous sums of money. Instead of forking over a quarter or a third or whatever of our income to uncle sam, why not take a hatchet to that federal budget, reign in spending and ease our tax burden? The greatest trick Democrats ever pulled was convincing their base that they deserve to be taxed more. I'll never understand that one. We should treat our Congress like the children they are - you have this much money; now spend it wisely and don't keep coming back to me for more.
Your last paragraph about Obama appeasing is not supported by his statements or actions. If your going to assume he is lying and his real motive is to appease "pugs", then I guess you are entitled to think that way. My opinion is that Obama knows that raising taxes in a recession is a terrible idea. Rather, he is wiling to deficit spend to put more money in American's pockets now to increase consumer spending, break this downward spiral we are in and worry about paying for it later. I don't know if this is wise economic policy or not, but it is pretty clear that Obama and his team do not believe deficits and/or low taxes are the root cause of our problems, as his plans ignore both.
Posted by: Herbie H. | January 27, 2009 11:17 PM
If Obama truly wanted "politics" out of his bill, he can start by removing the pork barrel funding and removing the payoffs to left-wing special interest groups.
But he doesn't. President O'Perfect Messiah Leg-Tingler is the crassest politico of them all.
Posted by: "Dissent is Patriotic" | January 27, 2009 11:23 PM
Hey Herbie,
You are the perfect face for the GOP. You serve an important purpose: a constant reminder of a court appointed incompetent president who for eight years headed the country while his rich friends enriched themselves even more with the tax cuts and no bid contracts they were given, meanwhile the middle class taxpayers lost their pensions and jobs. Keep up the good work, your kind are helping the democrats stay in office for as long as they want.
Posted by: giddyup | January 28, 2009 1:14 AM
Herbie, I used to think you had an above average intellect (although terribly misguided), but now I am demoting you to average. Keep posting like you did above and it might go to below average.
You wondered why my post focused on tax cuts.....apparently you forgot what your original post asked.
You fail to explain how cutting off the governement revenue stream (taxes) helps the govenrment out. You pick out about the strangest scenario as proof of your crackpot theory. Even your scenario is flawed when one thinks about it long enough. Think about that the next time your prunes kick in.
As for Obama's tax freeze....I explained that in the first post.....sorry you missed it. I'll say it a little s-l-o-w-e-r for you: If he had his way right now, I don't think he would be moving the tax rate up nor down. He is not entertaining taxes right now, due to the economy, not the pugs.
Big Orange brings up another good point that needs to be restated differently......You pugs got your lower taxes.....your theory of lower taxes was tested (again) with bushCo, and guess what...it was a phenominal disaster. Lower taxes do not work. Tax rebates do not work. We just did the pug way for 8 years, and it CLEARLY does not work.
Herbie, you really need to open your eyes here. You've been lied to your whole life by the pug machine and rush. I used to be a pug until I opened my eyes one day.
Posted by: Xcellentform | January 28, 2009 9:28 AM