Obama, Boehner blame each other for failure of debt talks

Not being an american,I can't make a valid comment,but as politicians go they are all the same worldwide. So much has been printed about this lack of agreement,why don't they the Democrats and the Republicans release their demands to the general public.Lets see which party is being unreasonable, I personally like the idea of a live televised forum on this issue, because this seems about political power, and not the American people, just like we've been seeing here in Japan. There are times in politics were you have to compromise and work together and there are times were its necessary to object. At the end of the day the winner has to be the people of the country they are elected to represent, not just a select few or the ego's or the personal gains of the of the politicians.

So I guess the Republicans succeeded in lowering the debt by a much lower amount than they could have. Brilliant, especially for a party who says they are all about the debt.

Expect the "no new taxes" bumper stickers to be printed in 3...2...1....

Boehner needs to state the obvious: he cannot control his own caucus. "Negotiations" with the president were simply a bid to buy time for negotiations with the insane wing inside his party, and it was those negotiations that failed. House Republicans have gone rogue and it looks like there's no getting them back. It might be best to go with the McConnel option and wait for 2012.

Blame the Tea Party and the new house members that got elected due to their support. The Republicans have created a monster which they cannot control as they are being forced farther to the right than they want/need to be.

The deadline for the end of the world, as tax cheat Tim Geithner knows it, has been re-set. It is now August 15th. This is the fifth final date this administration has set in stone. Someone's bluff got called, and he folded.

Here's an easy way to reduce the deficit;

http://costofwar.com/en/

This should have been wrapped up in March. Obama wants default.

Laguna : Boehner is playing two games here, trying to get the deal done with Democrats while also appeasing the Tea Party and appearing to be a tough negotiator who has no choice but to compromise at the last minute. I think the problem is that he just doesn't know if this time honored strategy will work with them. These people are political "suicide bombers" . They're willing to take down the country and themselves if they can't get their way.

Farmboy: You make it sound like the wealthy pay no taxes at all. the truth is that 87 percent of all taxes are already paid for by the rich in America. Sure, lets increase that number and everyone elses taxes too, instead of just reducing Government spending. I am one of those who do not want to pay any more taxes. I pay enough already. The Government has enough and needs to learn how to use it.!

"in the end, we couldn't connect." said Boehner. "My uncontrollable sobbing didn't help either" he added.

This should have been wrapped up in March. Obama wants default.

The GOP's alternate reality is truly bizarre.

johninnaha thank you,that link shows what a rich country America could have been. All to appease a few who control the war machine,just making them richer and more powerful. It does make you think ,who does run America?????????

With the failed and ruinous 'porkulus' that Obama rammed through only weeks into office he lost all credibility. ObamaCare only worsened things. On this issue he is basically letting Harry Reid decide the fate what little 'recovery' is possible. This is not leadership. At this point the only way to get the economy going would be for Obama to declare he will not seek re-election, and provide easily verifiable proof that campaign contributions have been refunded.

PS: Sorry, it's Boehner, not Boener, but at least it wasn't Boner.

LOL. But he became a big boo-ner today.

Obama at his latest 'presser' :

"Sometimes if you wanna be a leader, you have to lead."

After mouthing yet another hokey soundbyte his bootlickers in the lamestream media will rush to call 'subtle and nuanced, but forceful - and decisive!', Obama then walks out of the room.

Almost three years into his presidency and community organizer -in- chief has offered us exactly one budget, which was shot down 97-0 in a Democrat-majority Senate.

The first question from the press was "What's your plan?"

But again he punts. He turns to Boehner and says, "What can you say yes to?"

Boehner, and 2/3rds of the American people, have already said yet to the Cut,Cap and Balance Act.

These people are political "suicide bombers" . They're willing to take down the country and themselves if they can't get their way.

Amen, paulina.

Minello - that's rather easy.

Answer the question, "Who does the US owe money to?"

And you might get some kind of hint as to who is pulling the strings and why getting the US deeper in debt will benefit them.

Time to sell the country.

http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Documents/mfh.txt

These people are political "suicide bombers"

The trouble with the Chrissy Mathews' designation of terrorist - suicide bomber for anyone who opposes dear leader Obama is that the Left forgets how often they exonerate or soft pedal the carnage and mayhem caused by real suicide bombers. But bad faith is like that...

Boehner has the respect of the rich and the mindless, and that's about it. The man wants to cut a lot of social service money, which will affect MILLIONS, but wants to keep tax breaks which help very few.

I agree there should be a live, televised debate on the issue to help the people themselves decide via the next election.

Obama is right to demand they come and present how they intend to avoid a default, but Republicans like Boehner will deflect and make excuses why Republicans won't do it and/or why he must say 'no'.

The GOP's alternate reality is truly bizarre.

Sioux Chef, it truly is. If cognitive dissonance were a political party, it would be the GOP. Some of the comments on this board display that. Contradictory statements such as that Obama either "rams through" legislation or fails to show leadership, for example, or completely false claims such as that two-thirds of the American people support that House travesty, Cut, Cap and Balance - you could stock a zoo with the number of strawmen and red herrings these people throw out.

We all have the same goal here. I don't see why some people painted the word compromise as if it were cancer.

Breitbart : Re: "political suicide bomber". It's called a metaphor.

Boehner has the respect of the rich and the mindless, and that's about it.

The more Obama flails, the more blanket denunciations we see of ordinary patriotic Americans and those who have achieved the American Dream.

I agree there should be a live, televised debate on the issue to help the people themselves decide via the next election.

But Obama gets a pass on the federal budget?

His last one, the only one he has offered the public he was elected to serve, was shot down 97-0 in a senate controlled by his party. He needs to submit a budget. What kind of fool would agree to pay for what he cannot see first and evaluate?

Obama is right to demand they come and present how they intend to avoid a default,

He had two years to get it worked out but spent that time crafting ObamaCare and ramming down the people's throats. It is not the Republicans' fault or that of the American people.

Breitbart : Re: "political suicide bomber". It's called a metaphor.

Right, yeah.The new civility and all that.

Contradictory statements such as that Obama either "rams through" legislation or fails to show leadership,

With ObamaCare he succeeded - a pyrrhic victory, I believe - where other very powerful Dems failed. Yes, that displayed a kind of leadership, but of course that he could win a victory of that magnitude but fail to provide something as basic and essential as a federal budget only shows me how cynical and unscrupulous a politician Obama is. In refusing to present us with a federal budget he is derelict in the duties he was elected to perform. He is interested solely in his agenda; and like his uni transcripts, his medical records, his law firm client list, his travel records we are not allowed to see said agenda and evaluate for ourselves.

Victorious, please report back when your websites give you your next set of talking points. I don't think you're going to last long talking about uni transcripts and client lists. Republicans should have known this day was coming since they knew they weren't going to budge. Surely they had plans to spin this....or maybe they are too fractured right now?

What I want to know is, why is it so hard for liberals to just stop spending, just STOP the out of control spending. Our deficit is high, we are spending more than we are taking in and with the economy is in ruins and the President wants a tax hike and not reduce spending, this goes to show you, liberals generally, generally don't have a clue as to how to grow and make a prosperous economy. Obama makes Hoover, Wilson and Carter look like some of THE best Presidents we've every had.

Victorious, please report back when your websites give you your next set of talking points

How far gone are Obama supporters when demanding that the president carry out the vital tasks he is entrusted with - like presenting a budget to the people he serves - is some sort of 'talking point' ?

Superlib - you usually come off much more level-headed.

It's this weak and pathetic Obama, isn't it. The buyer's remorse is too much to bear. Defending his failed presidency has become exhausting I see.

Mean-spirited tweet / Winger Talking Point, from a New York Times reporter no less:

"That's the most powerful man in the world. And he sounds impotent and frustrated."

http://twitter.com/#!/BCAppelbaum/statuses/94531494265094144

Wow, first the republicans get a letter or thanks from the terrorist Gadhafi for supporting him in his quest to kill his own people, and now this. The Republicans are carrying out the OBL plan to bankrupt the USA. OBL wanted the USA to follow the path of Russia in Afghanistan. Obama killed OBL but the republicans are now doing the work of OBL for him. He must be laughing in his watery grave.

It is amazing how this is playing out, Republicans destroying America cause they hate their black President. The debt issue is fake, for decades the republicans ran huge budgets that did not balance. Bush was the worse and Reagan not much better. But now they use this issue to attempt to destroy the country.

The republicans created the first depression and now they are trying to do that again. It is simply amazing how screwed up they are and also that anyone, other than a derange billionaire, would vote for them at all.

Zurcronium, certainly Obama's race is an issue for some, but remember, Republicans never fully accepted Clinton's legitimacy either (some had a tendency to refer to Clinton as "your president"). So it's not entirely racial; their refusal to accept a judgement of the majority which leaves them in the minority is indicative of their inability to compromise and otherwise act like adults.

zurcronium -

It is amazing how this is playing out, Republicans destroying America cause they hate their black President.

Leave it to a hopeychangey progressive to take the lowest road possible and poison the well. Calling someone who opposes Obama and his party 'racist' is a punch line in America today. Sorry you had to learn it on a forum in Japan.

The republicans created the first depression and now they are trying to do that again.

The Fed was created under the Democrat Woodrow Wilson, and set the policy that led to the bubble which was followed by the panic we call the great Depression.

Wilson, in his own words:

"I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men."

Zurcronium, certainly Obama's race is an issue for some, but remember, Republicans never fully accepted Clinton's legitimacy either (some had a tendency to refer to Clinton as "your president").

Good point. I was basically OK with Clinton, who worked well with the Repub majority voters sent to DC . Welfare reform was a giant step forward. Pelosi - Reid - Obama though have rolled back the advances we made. Obama could learn from Clinton. But he is not that bright. Clinton was a very sharp guy.

Laguna, the tea party would not exist if Obama were white. Period.

Brietbart, why dont you go back to George Washington to blame for the first republican depression, after all he created the US. Clearly he is responsible. Herbert Hoover was President when the US economy crashed, just like Bush was President this time. Similar clueless captured by the rich republicans.

Obama is clearly bright. He is also is a mature adult. His republican contemporaries clearly are neither. Nor are they patriotic. They are simply political and that is all. To the point they will destroy the US economy to score political points they do not even really believe in themselves, for example Cheney said that deficits do not matter in that Reagan proved it. This whole sad event is about one thing, the 2012 election.

I just don't think Republicans will have enough thick skulls to follow the bumper stickers come election time. At some point they're going to have to start courting moderates and I just can't imagine how they're going to do that. I can't even see how they're going to get out of the primaries with any kind of cohesive identity. Their best bet is to present themselves simply as "anti-Obama" which is probably the closest this group will ever to be having a uniform platform on anything. If they get into details they'll start cutting each others throats. Their only chance is to make the choice "Obama" or "not Obama".

Good job Boehner! The Chinese government will decorate your contributions once you step foot on Beijiang!

Laguna, the tea party would not exist if Obama were white. Period.

The Tea Party helped elect Sen. Marco Rubio (Cuban-American), Governor Nikki Haley (East Indian), Rep. Alan West (African-American) and Rep. Tim Scott (also African American).Gov Bobby Jindal (East Indian) has huge support in the supposedly racist South. Thom Sowell and Michelle Malkin - also not "white" - are two of the most linked-to writers among conservatives.

Like I said, when you resort to trying to play the race card in America today you become the punch line.And zurcronium is the punch line.

Herbert Hoover was President when the US economy crashed, just like Bush was President this time. Similar clueless captured by the rich republicans.

The US has had many panics and depressions.It is telling that Lefties always choose to focus on the one we had in the 30s - unnecessarily prolonged by FDR - and the current one, completely ignoring for example the one we had in the 20s.

How many jobs did Obama kill today? This latest bit of waffling only adds more uncertainty to the market and the jobs pic. How can anyone believe these people? Five separate dates have been set as absolute deadlines.

Back on topic please.

Even msnbc had to report (though they tried to spin it) that the problem was, as Boehner reported, that both sides had agreed to $800 billion dollars in increased revenues then when Obama went to the Dems they made a stink about it, and Obama came back and asked for an addtl $400 in revenue.

Obama is the consummate "both sides against the middle" sneak and liar. The definition of playing both sides against the middle is "to try to make two people or groups compete with each other in order to get an advantage for yourself". He has been pulling this crap since he was a little kid and he probably learned it at home. This also how he wins elections. He sucks up to business then convinces the little people that they can trust him with hope and change while plotting to hand over SS Trust fund bonds to Wall St. The fixed game has run out and he is left holding the marked cards. At his press conference he sounded like a con trying to talk his way out of being arrested.

Farmboy - Then let me be more careful in my explanation, because I didn't mean to imply or state any such thing. I simply don't think the rich need any more tax breaks than they used to have.

Does anyone else find it interesting, that no one ever explains, what their 'fair share' is? I mean they already pay more then 40% of their income in taxes, as opposed to half of Americans who pay no percent of their income in taxes... Exactly what is their 'fair share'? 100%, 50%? At what point are the high income earners paying enough?

smithinjapan - Boehner has the respect of the rich and the mindless, and that's about it. The man wants to cut a lot of social service money, which will affect MILLIONS, but wants to keep tax breaks which help very few.

As opposed to Obama who has the respect of the brain-dead, the eco-nuts, and the ivory tower idiots. Anyone with even half a brain has realized just how bad this incompetent is for the country. Not because of his skin color, like some racist idiots keep suggesting, but because of his policies which kill jobs.

Zurcronium - the tea party would not exist if Obama were white. Period.

I hate to point out the obvious issue here, but those who focus on skin color, are in fact racist.

Laguna - Boehner needs to state the obvious: he cannot control his own caucus. "Negotiations" with the president were simply a bid to buy time for negotiations with the insane wing inside his party, and it was those negotiations that failed.

The 'insane' wing of the Republican party, that thinks the government shouldn't spend more then they take in. Yeah, thats absolute insanity. Its just crazy talk. Everyone who thinks that should immediately be committed... Heh, so funny.

The real problem here is Obama. He keeps trying to play one side off against the other, and Republicans aren't playing. They're looking for a serious negotiation. They're looking for leadership, something he is sadly lacking. In addition, Obama is insisting on no cuts in any area of consequence, certainly no cuts to the disastrous Obamacare idiocy, or social security, or medicare, or just about anywhere else. This means minimal cuts to discretionary spending, and large cuts to the military. Thats just not enough, hence the need to raise taxes. Except this is the worst economy since the great depression, and Obamas policies are making things much worse, and Republicans aren't willing to raise taxes to pay for Obamacare. And thats really what its about.

What this is really about though, is the debt ceiling. The President and most of the politicians want to raise the debt ceiling. However they really don't need to. They can pay the interest on the debt, social security, and the military out of tax revenues. They would even have money left over. However thats not what they want. To be fair, its not what anyone wants, except for the Tea Party.

’“Sometimes it’s good to back away from the tree and take a look at the forest,” Boehner said. ’

So Boehner admits he generally cannot see the forest for the trees. Nice one.

Molenir: "Anyone with even half a brain has realized just how bad this incompetent is for the country."

We're all waiting for you to admit what Boehner has and step back to see the forest. Like I said, though, he has the respect of... well... you quoted it, so you tell me.

"I hate to point out the obvious issue here, but those who focus on skin color, are in fact racist."

Agreed. Sadly, though, that once again makes most Republicans what you yourself just said, as does them trying to deny President Obama's citizenship as authentic despite him shutting up even racists like Beck, Limbaugh, and even Trump (who, after being stupefied even as the idiots they are, save the latter, denied their demands for such things!).

"The real problem here is Obama."

Um, no. The real problem is the Republicans trying to save money for the rich while sticking it to millions. Once again, though... do as Boehner himself admits he should do sometimes -- step away from the trees and look at the forest. Heck, Molenir, it won't be hard -- just look at the rest of the world a few meters back already doing it! :)

Molenir: Does anyone else find it interesting, that no one ever explains, what their 'fair share' is? I mean they already pay more then 40% of their income in taxes, as opposed to half of Americans who pay no percent of their income in taxes... Exactly what is their 'fair share'? 100%, 50%? At what point are the high income earners paying enough?

That's not an honest way to debate. We're talking mostly about a tax cut that was supposed to be temporary, not debating some open ended figure that naturally could go up to 100% by definition.

Molenir: The 'insane' wing of the Republican party, that thinks the government shouldn't spend more then they take in. Yeah, thats absolute insanity. Its just crazy talk. Everyone who thinks that should immediately be committed... Heh, so funny.

The Republicans just lost that argument. It sounds nice on paper but it doesn't play out that way in reality. We're dealing with both a spending issue and a loss of revenue issue from the recession. Because of the latter, no, it's not just such of a simple, forehead slapping concept of spending less. The government must combine reductions in spending while also looking at new forms of revenue. And at this point it looks like Republicans are pretty much fine with everything as long as people who make over $250,000 aren't asked chip in. Heaven forbid.

Molenir: The real problem here is Obama.

The real problem that's been exposed here is the radicalization of some parts of the Republican party. A larger deal could have been done. The hurdle that could not be overcome was the dissent by Republicans against other Republicans. The battle lines were not drawn between Democrats and Republicans, they were drawn within the Republican party itself.

Lizz: Even msnbc had to report (though they tried to spin it) that the problem was, as Boehner reported, that both sides had agreed to $800 billion dollars in increased revenues then when Obama went to the Dems they made a stink about it, and Obama came back and asked for an addtl $400 in revenue.

It's odd that Republicans would walk out on Thursday because of a proposal sent on Tuesday. From the LA Times, "That number was negotiable, as the White House saw it. If Boehner wouldn't agree to that sum, maybe he would settle for less, and they'd make up the difference some other way. "If you can't do that, then let's have another conversation," said a White House aide, summarizing Obama's part of the call."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-boehner-20110723,0,3014755.story?page=1

The negotiations continued without discussion of the $400 billion, then suddenly Boehner pulls out 2 days later because of it? Not likely. My guess is that he didn't have the support for the tax reform revenue and members of his own party told him to leave.

All a joke to me.

The issue for me is pretty simple. There may be a need for tax hikes in the future and Americans would go along with them if they could be assured that the extra revenue would go to making our budget and future outlays more secure and actually sane and sustainable.

The issue in my opinion is competency. It is amazing to me that this Administration who has shown it cannot manage the revenue it takes in as it is, borrows money it doesn't have to pay for programs it can't fund in the first place, has the gall to say "trust us" by trying to raise taxes.

I say no way until you get your house in order with the revenue you have now. Prove to me that you can actually manage a budget and so far for Obama F is an understatement. The Republicans were right to walk away from this. This administration is not serious, just addicted to spending and since it has maxed out the credit card it wants the credit limit raised to spend even more and a tax increase to cover the new max limit it seeks instead`of paying down the bills it has already incurred on credit and living within its means.

No way is this administration is to be trusted with anymore of the public's money. Asking for more from the public............Stand firm Mr, Speaker stand firm.

President Obama has no plan. Senate Democrats have no plan. Obama and Senator Reid pretend like they want to be reasonable and make cuts but refuse to write anything in legislation that will cause the socialist wing of their party to rise up in revolt. Senate Dems have not passed a budget in two years - are they are supposedly required by law to do. Obama is a failed leader. He is trying to "lead from behind" as usual - which is just nonsense. America is in the midst of a titanic debt crisis and Obama is clueless. Look at the rate of tax receipts and spending over the last 30 years - the problem isn't too little in taxes but way too much spending. Cut spending or else America will become a banana republic.

I hope John Podhoretz is wrong:

"Perhaps for the first time in American history, this president is literally using this press conference to create a financial panic over the weekend about the opening of the markets on Monday. He is warning of disaster on Monday. Clearly, he wants to use this as leverage to frighten the GOP into passing the plan proposed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, which will push the debt ceiling problem into 2013, but it's still an entirely new and astonishingly reckless gambit."

"A nation trying to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."

Winston Churchill