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President Barack Obama, laying down his marker for grueling "fiscal cliff" negotiations, said Friday he won't accept any approach to federal deficit reduction that doesn't ask the wealthy to pay more in taxes. "This was a central question during the election," Obama said in his first postelection comments on the economy. "The majority of Americans agree with my approach."
But those tense negotiations wont interfere with Obamas boarding Air Force One for a three-day tour of Bangkok, Rangoon and Phnom Penh.
Along the way, hell meet with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to mark 180 years of diplomatic relations, chat with Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi and attend the East Asia Summit in Cambodia. He takes off Nov. 17.
Meanwhile, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a report highlighting the economic shock that awaits America. The automatic spending cuts and tax increase will shrink the already anemic economy by 0.5 percent and cause the jobless rate to spike to 9.1 percent, the report predicted.
He gives a speech, talks about balanced approach, gives no details, and plans a victory lap in Asia.
President Barack Obama, laying down his marker for grueling "fiscal cliff" negotiations, said Friday he won't accept any approach to federal deficit reduction that doesn't ask the wealthy to pay more in taxes. "This was a central question during the election," Obama said in his first postelection comments on the economy. "The majority of Americans agree with my approach."
Obama 'Fiscal Cliff' Speech: Americans Agree With My Approach On Deficit
The market sold off a few minutes after he started speaking, signaling that investors think the negotiations are going to be protracted. Guys who watched it told me his tone and words were hardly conciliatory.
“We’re so far gone,” Paul said on Bloomberg Television. “We’re over the cliff. We cannot get enough people in Congress in the next 5-10 years who will do the wise things. We have to prepare for having already fallen off the fiscal cliff.”
Paul, who did not run for reelection this year, said everyone is arguing about “what they’re going to protect” instead of focusing on cuts to the federal budget. “They’re just looking for the truth. They say well, all we need is a little compromise. Well, nobody expects that because they do not admit the truth, and the truth is that we are broke,” Paul said. How do you compromise? They only way you can compromise is if you agree on what to cut.”
The Texas Republican also slammed President Barack Obama’s reelection for not changing Americans’ attitude about robust government spending. “That is why people were sort of surprised with these conditions that the president could get reelected,” he said. “That is a bad sign in that there are more on the receiving end. People do not want anything cut. They want all the bailouts to come. They want the Fed to keep printing money. They do not believe we have gone off the cliff or are close to going off the cliff.”
Read more: Ron Paul: Already over fiscal cliff - Bobby Cervantes - POLITICO.com
If Congress and the Obama administration allow scheduled tax increases and spending cuts to occur, the economy will shrink by 0.5 percent in 2013. The unemployment rate would soar to 9.1 percent — up from 7.9 percent today. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) asked for the report and said the findings are another reminder of the need to find an alternative to the tax increases and spending cuts that make up the fiscal cliff. “The consequences of inaction will deliver a dramatic, short-term blow to the economy,” Baucus said in a statement. “We need to build a bridge over this fiscal cliff. We need to work together — Republicans and Democrats — on a solution that provides some certainty to American families and businesses, while also bringing down our deficit and debt.”
The report largely echoes earlier CBO projections about the fiscal cliff’s impact. An aide for House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) said the report “confirms that raising taxes on all taxpayers will result in fewer help wanted signs hanging in the windows of businesses across the country.” “Job creators agree and have made it clear that raising taxes will result in a weaker economy and fewer jobs for the millions of Americans struggling to find work,” the aide said. “They are depending on the administration to provide the certainty they need to invest, hire and plan for the future. Achieving that certainty begins with stopping all tax hikes and focusing on pro-growth tax reform. The House stands ready to work with the White House and Senate to achieve those goals.”
The CBO said the outlook would be much more positive if Congress extended some or all of the expiring tax cuts and blocked the $109 billion in spending cuts slated next year for discretionary and mandatory programs. If Congress blocked the spending cuts and extended all of the expiring tax cuts — except for the payroll tax break — the economy would grow by 2.25 percent next year. Adding the payroll tax cut and an extension of unemployment benefits would nudge the growth closer to 3 percent. The report also demonstrates that extending all of the soon-to-end tax cuts would provide the biggest boost to the economy. Continuing the breaks for all taxpayers would boost GDP by 1.5 percent. An extension just for families making less than $250,000 and individuals earning less than $200,000 — the level that Democrats are seeking — would expand the economy by 1.25 percent.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83602.html#ixzz2Bm8vM8LV
