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Obama: Can We Make A Debt Deal, Please?
By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 25, 2011
Modified Jul 25, 2011
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 25, 2011
Modified Jul 25, 2011
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President Obama addressed the country tonight about the debt-ceiling crisis, expressing hope for a "balanced approach, but also expressed concern about default while blasting some members of Congress, "Unfortunately, for the past several weeks, Republican House members have essentially said that the only way they’ll vote to prevent America’s first-ever default is if the rest of us agree to their deep, spending cuts-only approach. If that happens, and we default, we would not have enough money to pay all of our bills - bills that include monthly Social Security checks, veterans’ benefits, and the government contracts we’ve signed with thousands of businesses."
Obama also said, "The American people may have voted for divided government, but they didn't vote for a dysfunctional government." (Didn't we?) And:
The debate right now isn’t about whether we need to make tough choices. Democrats and Republicans agree on the amount of deficit reduction we need. The debate is about how it should be done. Most Americans, regardless of political party, don’t understand how we can ask a senior citizen to pay more for her Medicare before we ask corporate jet owners and oil companies to give up tax breaks that other companies don’t get. How can we ask a student to pay more for college before we ask hedge fund managers to stop paying taxes at a lower rate than their secretaries? How can we slash funding for education and clean energy before we ask people like me to give up tax breaks we don’t need and didn’t ask for?
You can read his full remarks here—he told the public, "If you want a balanced approach to reducing the deficit, let your Member of Congress know... If you believe we can solve this problem through compromise, send that message."
House Speaker John Boehner gave a rebuttal:
[In January] here was the president, asking for the largest debt increase in American history, on the heels of the largest spending binge in American history... Here's what we got for that spending binge: a massive health care bill that most Americans never asked for. A 'stimulus' bill that was more effective in producing material for late-night comedians than it was in producing jobs. And a national debt that has gotten so out of hand it has sparked a crisis without precedent in my lifetime or yours. The United States cannot default on its debt obligations. The jobs and savings of too many Americans are at stake. What we told the president in January was this: the American people will not accept an increase in the debt limit without significant spending cuts and reforms...
The sad truth is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago, and he wants a blank check today. That is just not going to happen.
He also brought up the "Cut, Cap and Balance" plan—that the Senate rejected last week—which focuses on deep spending cuts and balancing the budget before raising the debt ceiling (and it doesn't involve raising tax revenues). Here are Boehner's full remarks.
Obama and Boehner had unsuccessful talks on a compromise on Friday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid offered a plan today that would raise the debt-ceiling through 2012. And here's why not raising the debt-ceiling and defaulting on debts would be bad.
Tagged
debt-ceiling crisis
default
economy
House Speaker Boehner
john boehner
president obama
recession
taxes
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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