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Jedi mind meld obama12/24/2023 ![]() ![]() Still, White House officials also say they believe Republicans will once again give way to additional tax revenue in part to avoid drastic cuts and in part to win reductions in Medicare and Social Security spending from Obama that they have been unable to get from Democrats before. And an NBC-Wall Street Journal survey indicates that Obama has lost some ground with the public on his handling of the economy. Polls also show that the public is not as engaged in this showdown as it has been in past fiscal confrontations. Indeed, much of the impact won't be felt for weeks or more than a month some effects, like possible teacher layoffs, wouldn't take place until the new school year in the fall. Obama this week said the effect "is not a cliff, but it is a tumble downward." But the consequences of the cuts -the so called sequester - are likely to be more of a slow boil. The White House is still betting that once the public begins to experience the effects of the $85 billion in cuts the pain will be severe enough to force lawmakers to reconsider and negotiate. His chances are squeezed by anti-tax conservatives, by liberals unwilling to cut into Medicare and Social Security, and by a Republican leadership that has dug in against any new revenue after acceding to Obama's demands two months ago for a higher tax rate for top income earners. It's about taking on the spending problem here in Washington."įor Obama, Friday's session was the first opportunity this year to spell out his 10-year, $1.5 trillion deficit reduction plan in a face-to-face meeting with congressional allies and adversaries. "The discussion about revenue in my view is over. "The president got his tax hikes on January First," Boehner said bluntly after the meeting. But with automatic federal spending cuts ready to start taking their toll, the path toward that grand bargain Obama campaigned on last year has significantly narrowed. ![]() Obama is seeking a big fiscal deal that would raise taxes and trim billions from expensive and ever-growing entitlement programs. The cuts were to take effect by the end of Friday despite a parade of administration officials warning of grim consequences.īut while Obama called the cuts "dumb" and predicted they would hurt the economy, he also said: "This is not going to be a apocalypse." Republican House Speaker John Boehner's office said participants in the meeting agreed legislation should be enacted this month to continue government operations while lawmakers and the administration work separately to find ways to replace the automatic cuts. "It's the right thing to do to make sure we don't have a government shutdown," Obama said following the meeting. Still, following a nearly hour-long meeting in the White House, Obama and the top four leaders in Congress generally agreed not to create a crisis out of a March 27 deadline when federal authority to spend on government operations runs out.
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