WASHINGTON — A week that started with hopes for a deal ended Friday on a starkly negative note, as Republicans and Democrats traded barbs and laid the groundwork to blame their opponents in the increasingly likely event Washington takes the nation off the fiscal cliff on Jan. 1.
House Speaker John Boehner essentially threw up his hands Friday after his strategy of unilaterally introducing a House bill imploded Thursday night in a humiliating collapse. After failing to bring his bill to the floor because of a lack of support, he said it was now up to President Obama or the Senate to find a solution.
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I'd like to see more leadership from the White House on proposing budget priorities, but Boehner is punting. The House must first pass a budget, and if the President drags his feet they are not obligated to wait for him. I'd call that opportunity missed.
The Globe forgot to tell you that the House ALREADY passed a budget. Every year as it is required by law to do. The Houses' budget is no tax increases on anybody, with the Bush rates to be made permanent. No Minimum Tax either. The House's bill is in the Senate, where Harry Reid does not allow a vote on it. The Senate has not passed a budget in 4 years, and Harry has vio;ated the law by not even bringing a bill to the Senate floor.
Bite me, mikey.
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"Boehner says Obama must lead on fiscal cliff crisis" because Boehner has so clearly and completely failed to do so?
Be nice. Boehner is now the least popular member of Congress (as opposed to Joe Biden, the most popular). The GOP folks here must be suicidal.
http://gawker.com/5970762/john-boehner-has-a-real-reason-to-cry-is-voted-most-unpopular-member-of-congress
In a new poll released Friday by Rasmussen Reports, Boehner was given the lowest approval rating of any Congressional leader. Yes, he's even more unpopular than the perennial band geek of Congress, Nancy Pelosi.
According to the Huffington Post, "Fifty-one percent of likely voters rated Boehner unfavorably, giving him a net favorability rating of negative 20."
49 percent of people polled said that they viewed Vice President Joe Biden favorably, which made him the only legislator with a net positive rating in the poll. It's worth nothing that as Vice President, Biden is the president of the Senate and only is allowed to vote in rare circumstances.
Boehner has definitely appeared weak during these fiscal cliff debates. It's time for him to either step up to the plate and his wreak his special brand of conservative havoc or just give up and move on to the next one already. Like spray tan, indecisiveness, isn't a good look for the Speaker of the House.
I say let's go over the cliff. There's no compromise as Obama and the Democrats will not negotiate with the House. this has been going on since Obama took office and the Democrats had controlled of both the Senate and the House. After the 2010 election, Obama and the Senate certainly never negotiated with the Republican control House. Obama pretty much stated - my way or the highway. Politic has always been a lttle give and take (compromise). This President only wants to have his way. Let's all go over the cliff and see what happened. If we don't recovered, we can blame the dominating party - The Democras. If we recovered, they deserve the praise.
You are really kidding me, aren`t you? I believe you pretty much have it backwards.
He's so filled with hatred of Obama and the Democrats that he can't face reality. It's kind of sad really.
HERE's why there was no deal. In the private talkss, John Boehner asked Barack Obama what Obama would offer in return for Boehner's offer of $800 Billion in tax increases(which matched Obama's 2011 suggestion). Obama replied "John I won. I don't have to offer anything. The $800 Billion in new revenue is FREE". And besides that, Obama announces at a news conference that John Boehner "CONCEDED" that tax increases on the wealthy are necessary. Then, to make sure that everybody got the point, Obama says a second time "John Boehner CONCEDED". ..This is why the negotiations should be completely PUBLIC, with C-Span cameras rolling. Then the public will see which side is attempting to compromise, and which is playing putr partisanship.
Also, when asked why Obama wouldn't accept his own 2011 offer, a spokesman said "That was then, we think that his offer was "Undervalued". Moral of the story Barack Obama says "Buy now, before the prices go up!". See today's WSJ front page article ."How Cliff talks Hit the Wall"