Not On The Table — “No Matter What Hostages the Republicans Take”

[RhodaA]

I give people the benefit of the doubt. I try to understand their point of view. If I perceive that they try
to take advantage of that, then I will crush them. — Barack Obama

On June 2nd, President Obama met with House Democrats to talk about the 2012 budget. He made two things clear:

1) Medicare benefit cuts are not on the table;
2) Bush tax cuts for the wealthy will not be extended.

After a meeting with House Democrats that lasted more than an hour, President Obama said that they will have to join him in his efforts to cut the deficit, but he made it clear that Medicare benefits will not be cut in any compromise, including one to raise the debt ceiling. Instead, lawmakers emerged calling for an end to the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy — a clear stab at the deficit-reduction plan put forth by Rep. Paul Ryan.

He stressed that his administration would draw a firm line on taxes and revenues both in the deficit- and debt-reduction debates and in the buildup to the 2012 elections … “I’ve been very clear about revenues as a part of a balanced package, and I will continue to be … I’ve said I’m not going to renew the tax cuts for the top two percent. We might agree on tax reform or simplification, but on the upper-income tax cuts we are just going to have to agree to disagree … it was vital to have revenues as part of the mix, stressing that a budget can’t be balanced on non-defense discretionary spending or the ‘backs of the most vulnerable,’ and added, he would “not support extending the Bush tax cuts for the top two percent again no matter what hostages Republicans took.”

What did it for me in Obama’s plan to get the nation’s finances in order was that the President took his stand against the GOP effort to take away the soul of this nation while staring directly into the eyes of Rep. Paul Ryan – the architect of the document that would remake this country in the mold of third world nations where there are rich people and poor people with nobody in the middle. Unlike the taunts, personal insults and barbs that Ryan and his companions lob at the president on a daily basis from the safety of a television studio, Obama took the route that requires character. He did it to Ryan’s face. — Rick Ungar

The Eyes of Ryan

Continue:
http://www.culturaldirection.com/archives/8394