President Obama and House speaker John Boehner met on Sunday at the White House in an attempt to compose a deal and compromise regarding the fiscal cliff and the national debt. It was said that this meeting was vital if Obama and Boehner wanted to win approval for their plan before the December 31st deadline quickly approaches. There haven't been any specific details released on the exact compromises of the deal but I think it will be interesting to see how the two groups end up working together for something that could ultimately affect everyone in our country.
I think it's interesting that the Senate Finance Committee admits that "measures are likely to contain little more than savings targets and some principles to guide work next year, aides said. Trying to get too specific would not only take time but could kill any chance of passage." This sort of 'kicking the ball down the road' is a major contributing factor to why the federal deficit stands where it does. Without being specific, cuts will probably not be substantial enough to change any major balance, or will cause further gridlock when the details of the cuts come up, and all the while, the debt clock ticks on.
ReplyDeleteShockingly (not) I agree with Grace. The way that we need to balance our budget is by cutting programs AND raising taxes. Cutting programs will put a small dent towards the resolution of the issue, but the money saved will just be spent somewhere else. Raising taxes alone won't help anything. The money received will just be blown into the deficit and won't change much. If we cut programs and increase taxes in moderation, then we get the best of both worlds from saving money and receiving money to decrease the deficit for a period of time until an ultimate solution can be reached.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Sam. The country cannot rely on raising taxes again and again without having major reforms done to the programs. If there are not programs being cut and alterations being made to how the money is spent, regardless of how much revenue is collected, it will be thrown away into various programs, further increasing the deficit as before. This new fiscal cliff needs to offer a wide array of changes--not just raising taxes.
DeleteThis article clearly shows that this proposal for the 'fiscal cliff' deal is still very uncertain. From lines such as "neither side would provide information," "there was no progress to report," and "it was not immediately clear whether that changed Sunday," we can see that either Obama and Boehner have yet to come to a conclusion, or they are just attempting to keep the progress top-secret until they are completely ready to release the entire deal. There are tons of information on the potential deal, yet some of these policies could possibly change by the time there is an end result.
ReplyDeleteI'm very curious about what the two will come up with for the compromise, and if it does not go through then we will likely see large changes in other places and programs. It is very shocking, however, that "there was no progress to report." This topic should be the primary concern for President Obama to handle.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it's surprising that no headway is being made (according to the reports). This issue must be on the forefront of the minds of both President Obama and Boehner. Still, like the article admits, a compromise is easier said than done. Until both groups make the necessary sacrifices and narrow the gap between what each group wants, of course there will be no progress.
DeleteThe lack of headway is concerning.President Obama's focus should be on the fiscal cliff. Yes, a compromise may not be as easy as it sounds but to help our nation our politicians must be willing to give and take.
DeleteI agree with Amanda. The fiscal cliff should have been a top priority and it didn't seem like there was a sense of urgency when trying to make a deal. Compromise is never easy but it has to be made.
DeleteA specific plan needs to be agreed on in order to eliminate the deficit, but since there there isn't must time left and the federal government can't agree on much, I think it is in the country's best interested to pass a broad plan and than later go back and make it more specific.
ReplyDeleteI like that they are actually trying to come up with a compromise. From what I have understood about the situation in Washington up to this point, I don't know how much discussion was really going on between the Republicans and the Democrats. Its good that they are actually facilitating decision making instead of grid-locking again.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I also believe that both program cuts and tax hikes are necessary to solve the deficit problem. I know that it is going to ruin the reputation of some representatives if taxes go up, but it needs to happen.
I'm glad that Obama and Boehner are communicating, however a consensus should have been reached much earlier. With the deadline nearing, I am concerned that a plan will be hastily thrown together. I agree with Grace that there needs to be specificity involved in the plan, for if it is vaguely put together last minute, chances are we will find ourselves revisiting it soon. I hope it isn't too late to put together a successful plan.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Aaron that it is good that people are finally trying to compromise. It shows promise, and that we have some hope. I do think that there is not really enough time to put together a well thought out and effective plan at this point for this deadline, and that either way the issue will probably need to be revisited at some future date. People's opinions will change or someone will come up with a better idea and the plan will change, but I hope we get a good one in place until then.
ReplyDeleteIt will be very interesting to see what the two sides decided upon, however, as Talia mentioned, a consensus should have been reached much earlier. There definitely needs to be specific guidelines and they must reform programs in the plan to provide for any major progress.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame how it takes tragedies and the moment before a deadline approaches for politicians to attempt to work together.
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