Geithner to Boehner

Here we go again. Dysfunction rules in Congress.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...m_politics_pop
Geithner warns Boehn
Posted at 03:12 PM ET, 05/15/2012
Geithner warns Boehner, GOP on end-of-year debt limit showdown
By Rosalind S. Helderman

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testifying at a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing in April. (Brendan Hoffman - Bloomberg) Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner cautioned Republicans on Tuesday not to raise questions about whether the United States will once again raise its legal debt limit late this year, saying the economy is already starting to feel the effects of the potential fiscal cliff confronting Congress at the end of the year.

Geithner’s comments came as the White House and Democrats on Capitol Hill began reacting to a new ultimatum from House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), who told an annual conference hosted by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation later Tuesday that Republicans will insist again this year that any increase in the debt limit be matched dollar-for-dollar with equal spending cuts.

Republicans made the same demand in the negotiations that led to an economy-rattling partisan showdown over the nation’s last debt ceiling hike last summer.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he agreed with Boehner’s framework for requiring cuts equal to any debt ceiling increase.

“A request of the president to ask us to raise the debt ceiling ought to generate a significant response to deal with the problem of deficit and debt,” he said.

But White House spokesman Jay Carney responded that a “charade” like last summer’s fight over the issue would hurt the economy.

“It can’t possibly be the case that the right prescription for what we need to do right now is to engage in the kind of political brinksmanship that, unfortunately, congressional Republicans engaged in last year,” he said.

Boehner told the group that the dollar-for-dollar match is necessary to force Washington to embark on the kind of fiscal restraint and entitlement reform that will slash deficits over time and stabilize the economy. The prepared remarks call the debt ceiling vote an “action-forcing event” that will require Washington to tackle its tough choices.

But speaking to the same group, Geithner warned Tuesday that it is not “responsible” to call into question whether the nation will pay back money it has already borrowed by raising the debt limit.

“This commitment to meet the obligations of the nation, this commitment to protect the creditworthiness of the country, is a fundamental commitment that you can never call into question or violate,” he said.

He said he hopes Congress can find a way to raise the debt ceiling next time without “the drama and the pain and the damage they caused the country last July.”

Congress will face a debt ceiling decision at the same time it faces a dramatic number of other major spending and taxing conundrums, including the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts, the end of a temporary decreases in the payroll tax and implementation of painful automatic spending cuts that were included in the July deal to raise the debt ceiling.

Geithner said the county is now “close enough” to that crunch for its consequences “to matter a lot” already.

It's sad the the democrats will play Russian Roulette once again with the debt ceiling. It's a shame they cannot move off of their Nanny State / Welfare State ideology.

Just today we witnessed how rigid liberal democrats can be.

3:1 Revenues to taxes (on the wealthy) and the Republicans couldnt come to the table. Mr. Boehner is now ushering in another debt ceiling debacle.

With that timetable in mind, the White House on Wednesday made two points. There was a commitment to a clean debt-ceiling increase. There also were admonitions about making politics out of what had historically been, a routine debt-ceiling increase process.

The president, said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, "simply will not accept an approach that tries to recreate the self-inflicted political wounds that caused harm to the economy last summer."

"I think you have to ask the speaker of the House whether or not he intends or believes it is the right thing to do ... to play chicken with the full faith and credit of the United States government," Carney added.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/20...wer_today.html
Spending, Taxes, Deficit are All Lower Today
Think Progress: "In January 2009, before President Obama had even taken the oath of office, annual spending was set to total 24.9 percent of gross domestic product. Total spending this year, fiscal year 2012, is expected to top out at 23.4 percent of GDP."

"Here's another interesting fact. Taxes today are lower than they were on inauguration day 2009. Back in January 2009, the CBO projected that total federal tax revenue that year would amount to 16.5 percent of GDP. This year? 15.8 percent."

"One last nugget. The deficit this year is going to be lower than what it was on the day President Obama took office. Back then, the CBO said the 2009 deficit would be 8.3 percent of GDP. This year's deficit is expected to come in at 7.6 percent."

WED MAY 16, 2012 AT 05:00 PM PDT
John Boehner's debt ceiling line in the sand stops short at the Paul Ryan budget
byJoan McCarter

Speaker John Boehner (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)
House Speaker John Boehner's debt ceiling hostage-taking threats include the requirement that any increase to the debt limit has be matched "dollar-for-dollar" by other cuts and "reforms."
Tough stance he's taking there, and a selective one, too, since the House-approved Paul Ryan budget would actually increase the deficit by $5 trillion over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Boehner's debt ceiling demand doesn't extend to that $5 trillion increase, and he's unbothered by the inconsistency.

CNN’s Erin Burnett, interviewing Boehner Tuesday after his speech, confronted him about the contradiction.
“Yeah, the big bad House Republican budget that would just gut everything under the sun, according to my friends across the aisle, would still require a $5 trillion increase in the debt ceiling over the next 10 years,” Boehner said. “Why? Because of the great big demographic bubble—baby boomers like me, that are going to retire and continue to retire for the next 20-25 years. It’s a big challenge.”
In fact, the Ryan budget includes large tax cuts that would bring about a $4.6 trillion reduction in federal revenues, according to the Tax Policy Center.

Do the Republicans care about the deficit? Of course not. They care about keeping tax cuts for rich people, exploding the defense budget, and undoing every good thing government does for the American people. It's not about the deficit. It's never been about the deficit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SiriuslyLong

It's sad the the democrats will play Russian Roulette once again with the debt ceiling. It's a shame they cannot move off of their Nanny State / Welfare State ideology.

Just today we witnessed how rigid liberal democrats can be.

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It is a shame that democrats simply want to continue to tax everyone for the money they work so hard for - the money earned for families. The left doesn't embrace families or personal responsibility. They embrace an all powerful federal government metering out social justice. But I have to say, buying votes is an excellent way to stay in power however unethical it is.

It is a shame that the left has their eye on your earnings. Big Brother is watching you and passing judgement on you.

You'll have to pardon Mr. SiriuslyWrong he only knows how spew talking point generalities.

Yesterday, 10:23 PM
WED MAY 16, 2012 AT 05:00 PM PDT
John Boehner's debt ceiling line in the sand stops short at the Paul Ryan budget
byJoan McCarter

Speaker John Boehner (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)
House Speaker John Boehner's debt ceiling hostage-taking threats include the requirement that any increase to the debt limit has be matched "dollar-for-dollar" by other cuts and "reforms."
Tough stance he's taking there, and a selective one, too, since the House-approved Paul Ryan budget would actually increase the deficit by $5 trillion over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Boehner's debt ceiling demand doesn't extend to that $5 trillion increase, and he's unbothered by the inconsistency.

CNN’s Erin Burnett, interviewing Boehner Tuesday after his speech, confronted him about the contradiction.
“Yeah, the big bad House Republican budget that would just gut everything under the sun, according to my friends across the aisle, would still require a $5 trillion increase in the debt ceiling over the next 10 years,” Boehner said. “Why? Because of the great big demographic bubble—baby boomers like me, that are going to retire and continue to retire for the next 20-25 years. It’s a big challenge.”
In fact, the Ryan budget includes large tax cuts that would bring about a $4.6 trillion reduction in federal revenues, according to the Tax Policy Center.

Do the Republicans care about the deficit? Of course not. They care about keeping tax cuts for rich people, exploding the defense budget, and undoing every good thing government does for the American people. It's not about the deficit. It's never been about the deficit.

Please respond to this. Do you find it hypocritical.

It is a shame that liberal democrats are going to risk default in order to take more of my earnings. You know, the earnings I make to save for my children's college fund (no film school.... real college) so that they can become productive members of society. I take responsibility for that, and wish the various governments who take so much of my earnings would take less.

You will post some talking point generalities. I will post some interesting facts which you will never address. The pattern continues.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/20...wer_today.html
Spending, Taxes, Deficit are All Lower Today
Think Progress: "In January 2009, before President Obama had even taken the oath of office, annual spending was set to total 24.9 percent of gross domestic product. Total spending this year, fiscal year 2012, is expected to top out at 23.4 percent of GDP."

"Here's another interesting fact. Taxes today are lower than they were on inauguration day 2009. Back in January 2009, the CBO projected that total federal tax revenue that year would amount to 16.5 percent of GDP. This year? 15.8 percent."

"One last nugget. The deficit this year is going to be lower than what it was on the day President Obama took office. Back then, the CBO said the 2009 deficit would be 8.3 percent of GDP. This year's deficit is expected to come in at 7.6 percent."

Boehner, Pelosi Grapple Over Renewed Debt Limit Brinksmanship


In back to back press conferences Thursday morning, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and House Speaker John Boehner traded barbs about the GOP’s plan to reignite the debt limit fight this winter.

“To toss this into the mix right now…is really immature, irresponsible. Let’s get serious,” Pelosi told reporters.

“We know the end of the year’s coming,” Boehner said. “And we know what’s gonna happen. And if we don’t use this opportunity to increase the debt limit and make real changes in how we spend the American people’s money, we’re missing a golden opportunity…. When the President told me yesterday that he wanted a clean increase in the debt limit, it almost took my breath away.”

As we’ve reported, Boehner’s plan has a flaw – the debt ceiling likely won’t need to be raised until after the end of the year. Confronted with that fact, Boehner tacitly acknowledged that he probably can’t force the issue before the end of the year as a means of preventing the Bush tax cuts from expiring.

“It would be nice to do them in some logical order and with enough time for members and the American people to understand exactly what it is we’re doing,” he said.

Reported by Brian Beutler