Boehner, Reid preparing to move on debt limit

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic and Republican congressional leaders shopped competing debt-crisis solutions and President Barack Obama canceled fundraising appearances Monday, as a politically gridlocked capital lurched into a climactic last full week before the Aug. 2 default deadline.

Even amid acknowledgments by U.S. leaders of the need to reassure jittery investors, world markets slipped and both the Dow Jones and Standard & Poor's 500 were down in early trading on Wall Street with the Aug. 2 deadline to raise the government's borrowing limit fast approaching.

House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid planned to unveil separate deficit reduction plans with their respective House and Senate caucuses after the Obama White House and Congress made little apparent headway in private talks over a long, steamy weekend.

Boehner was set to meet with his chamber's Republicans to discuss the GOP's clash with Obama over extending the government's borrowing authority. The Ohio Republican planned to unveil a new debt ceiling plan at the GOP meeting and post it online later in the day, a spokesman said.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DEBT_SHOWDOWN...

[Dulcinea]

1. OK, I gotta ask:

Where was all this concern for the debt limit & the deficit when it was time for tax cuts for the wealthy, or to start wars we can't pay for?

[digitaln3rd]

2. You expect Congress to plan ahead?

They can barely do two things at once led alone plan ahead more then two days.

They're all just plain inept.

[neoralme]

3. This entire debt limit fiasco is all about Obamacare according to

Rush Limbaugh. I saw a report where a caller asked Limbaugh directly this question. "So, Rush, if there was no Obamacare, there would be debt crisis right now or attacks on entitlements. Is that correct?" "That is exactly right, responded Rush."

[thereismore]

4. I don't get it. It seems contradictory. i think you're missing a "no" somewhere. nt

[neoralme]

12. Yes. My mistake. Sorry. Should be a no in front of debt crisis.

[lark]

5. Silly person, don't you know debt only matters if it goes to workers

Debt for military operations or to benefit the rich is unlimited forever. Obama is not on our side and gives a flip about working Americans.

[unblock]

6. debt limit/balanced budget/deficit concerns only apply when democrats control the budget.

it's been that way at least as far back as reagan's first campaign.

[harun]

7. If the media would do its job it would ask the same question.

[earthside]

8. Buchanan wins?

The Reid proposal is exactly what Pat Buchanan has been predicting would happen: about $3,000,000,000,000 in cuts in exchange for a rise in the debt ceiling.

In the end, the Repuglicans may very well take 'yes' for an answer ... and, I'm sorry, that means a political defeat for Pres. Obama. Of course, it also means a defeat for us, the average working class American since the cuts will come out of programs that benefit us, and the rich and power have to 'sacrifice' nothing.

[Proletariatprincess]

9. Never in the history of the world...

has a nation gone to war and cut taxes at the same time. It is ridiculous....stupid.
I would like to see a a War Tax automatically implemented any time US troops are sent to another country FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER. The War Tax would soak the rich first but every taxpayer would have to pay something.
Of course, chances of that are less than zero in the USA today.
This is a ridiculous stupid country that is operated by and serves only the tiny priveledged minority. I believe it cannot stand for much longer.

[loyalsister]

13. I would go a step further

and say that it should be accompanied by a draft. An Iraq War Resolution that included a draft would never have been taken seriously. Instead we have the repeated deployments that are damaging these servicemen in ways never before seen. As we see in the massive numbers of suicides.

[AndyTiedye]

16. HELL NO on any Draft

If there were a draft, BushCheney would have invaded Iran, at least.
It was only a shortage of cannon fodder that prevented that.

An Iraq War Resolution that included a draft would never have been taken seriously.

It was right after 9/11, and BushCheney had been doing everything in their power to blame Iraq for it.
They could have gotten a draft if they had asked for one.

[loyalsister]

17. It had been about 6 months until it was approved

There was actually some debate. I really think the facts would have been explored more fully and the lack of connection between Iraq and 9\11 would have been exposed. As it stood, the only people who paid attention to the fact that there was any opposition to the IWR were already invested in politics. I really think more people would have held them accountable if they were being asked to risk their lives.

[AndyTiedye]

19. I Know. I Was Out There Protesting

and they were out there manufacturing fake intel about fake WMDs.

Remember how Saddam was gonna nuke us?

[Proletariatprincess]

18. I agree whole heartedly..

there is never a reason for a draft. If there ever was a serious thread of invasion, there would be more volunteers to defend the homeland than could be processed.
On the other hand, the draft has been and would still be misused and people would be forced to die for the profits of corporate america.

[loyalsister]

20. That's exactly the point

The only time we should go to war at all is if there is a serious threat of invasion in which case a draft would be what has historically been considered "justifiable." The invasion of Iraq did not mean either standard, but the administration convinced people it did. An honest approach of a seriously necessary military invasion would include a draft to meet the military needs. The fact that the IWR did not include one should have been a tip off.

[FreakinDJ]

10. Boehner, Reid to unveil new debt plans as deadline nears

Source: Alan Silverleib and Tom Cohen, CNN

Boehner, Reid to unveil new debt plans as deadline nears

Democratic and Republican congressional leaders are set to unveil new deficit reduction plans Monday as top officials scramble to bridge a cavernous partisan divide and raise the federal government's debt ceiling before an unprecedented -- and potentially devastating -- national default.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, is expected to outline a blueprint calling for roughly $2.7 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade while raising the debt limit by $2.4 trillion -- an amount sufficient to fund the government through the 2012 election. Reid's plan would not require any new tax hikes or reforms to politically popular entitlement programs.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is expected to outline a two-stage plan. The first stage calls for approximately $1.2 trillion in spending cuts while raising the debt ceiling through the end of 2011, two Republican leadership aides told CNN. The second stage would raise the debt limit through 2012, but tie the increase to major tax reforms and entitlement changes outlined by a bipartisan commission composed of Senate and House members.

Boehner's plan also includes a vote on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution by the end of this year, according to the speaker's office.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/07/25/debt.talks/index...

[no_hypocrisy]

11. Boehner and Reid may agree, but that doesn't necessarily mean a majority vote in both houses.

[blkmusclmachine]

14. You support Obama's NCLB education deform?

[Freddie Stubbs]

15. I support President Obama's Race to the Top program to create innovation in education