Obama 2006 vs. Obama January 2011 vs. Obama April 2011 on the Debt Ceiling

…hey, let’s just listen to Obama and Boehner and the failed GOP, and go back to cut taxes / cut govt that we tried for the 3 decades of the Reagan/Bush era. In fact, let’s get ANOTHER big tax cut to the wealthiest as we did in 1981 and 2001.
I mean, that worked SO well to deliver Trickle Down prosperity. Almost nobody is unemployed now. And the banks and oil drillers and health insurers, heck – they POLICED THEMSELVES!!! Get government out of the WAY by golly!
Abe Lincoln would have said;
“You can fool some of the people, ALL of the time”… ;^)

Posted by: MikeW67 | Apr 11, 2011 3:23:00 PM
Hey guess what Mike. The problem isn’t revenue – it’s spending! Every time they get a little jump in revenue they go on a spending spree!

Remember the last time we had a balanced budget and actually were paying down the old debt?
Clinton increased revenue by raising taxes on the very wealthiest just 3.5%.
Tax increases on that income bracket won’t affect their lives (the wealthies 1% owns 42% of all wealth in our country!) and doesn’t slow down the economy like raising taxes on the middle class.
And every dollar of debt paid off saves us interest, just like paying down a mortgage.
Clinton had it right. The Republicans have to stop blocking raising taxes on the wealthy.

“My previous comments on the budget, on the debt, on Hope and Change — basically reflect the fact that I did not know what I was talking about” BHO
yes, we knew it then

cut spending..just look at all the good govt spending has done for the american indian.obama has no backbone or conviction.this is why he generally always voted present. might be held accountable someday..like today

Guess he was for it before he was against it??? Typical Dem and left winger. Not sure how to vote unless the likes of Reid and Pelosi tell you how to vote. Be nice to get people in office who think for the people and not their relection.

The economy and two wars are the big difference between 2006 and 2011. All the jobs lost between then and now, the trade deficits that have continued year after year, the corporations dodging taxes year after year, the Bush tax breaks for the wealthy, have all brought us to the ugly reality of having to raise the debt ceiling.

“Tax increases on that income bracket won’t affect their lives (the wealthies 1% owns 42% of all wealth in our country!) and doesn’t slow down the economy like raising taxes on the middle class.”
Posted by: Lydia | Apr 11, 2011 3:52:43 PM
Be careful what you wish for.
The top 10% of Americans by income pay over 70% of all federal income taxes. Chances are your tax bill is much lower or non-existent because of them.
Higher taxes might not hurt the lifestyles of the wealthy, but taxing them will definitely be felt by the working poor and middle class.
You see, we have a consumer-based economy that is highly dependent on spending by the wealthy. According to Moody’s Analytics, the top 5% of Americans by income are responsible for 37% of all consumer outlays. Outlays include consumer spending, interest payments on installment debt, and transfer payments. The bottom 80% are responsible for 39.5% of all consumer outlays.
Love it or hate it, our economy is driven by the spending habits of the wealthy, ESPECIALLY during a recession. Because of the way our economy is structured, the more you hurt the wealthy, the more you hurt the working poor and middle class that supply them with goods and services.
The 50% of Americans who currently don’t pay federal income taxes need to start. No free rides. It’s easy for people who don’t pay taxes to scream for free federal services when they’re not paying the bill. Once they do, we’ll find out quickly which services they truly want to keep and which to toss.

48% pay no tax…20 to 30 million illegals pay no tax and suck off our system and i will bet you more than half these folks hve flat screens and cable t.v….oh yeah thats entitlement now.

Is the “noose” still tightening?

I find Obama “distasteful”.-
Big Business doesn’t. They’re going to order a 2nd course for 2012.

He was wrong for voting “present”? When, just this one time, or his entire career?
The emperor has no clothes.

If we raise the debt ceiling, we’ll get more debt.
Not raising the debt ceiling would be the end of washington politics as usual, which all those who voted for Obama in 2008 thought they would get. That’s the ugly reality here — what those who voted for Obama thought they would get.
I’m with 2006 Obama when it comes to the debt ceiling. I’m also with 2007 Obama when it comes to deploying the military absent an imminent threat. 2009, 2010, and now 2011 model year Obamas are junk.

Yet oddly, he felt tax cuts for the rich was a good idea. Interesting…
Posted by: Liddya | Apr 11, 2011 5:27:31 PM
Not really. He was basically forced into it by the Republican.

The economy was different in 2006 – Everything has changed. Sometimes our beliefs and actions change based on the situation at the time. The consevatives make a HUGE deal over everything the President O’bama does.
===
Yes, and despite the debt commission guaranting US bankruptcy without a viable solution to balance the budget, Obama decided to propose a budget that did not balance.
That is how you change with the times and facts, keep on doing the same thing, over and over again, for the next 10 years, or until 2037, or until we go bankrupt, whichever comes first.

-he is too stupid for the job and doesn’t know what to do.
Posted by: Nephron | Apr 11, 2011 5:49:36 PM
Insult as ‘intelligent’ argument. This is what is wrong with America.

In 2006 the same Republican leaders who are publicly opposing raising the debt ceiling made passionate statements in favor of doing that then. And they did it about 10 times in that decade – the Republicans always voted on the side of raising the ceiling.
(Look at the Congressional Record to see the statements)
I guess their feelings depend on whether or not they like the President. Shouldn’t they be considering the welfare of the country instead?
They’re all hypocrites on this matter.

Obama ran on raising taxes.
Posted by: Mike, CO | Apr 11, 2011 5:54:39 PM
Not really. He ran on keeping taxes at current levels for middle and lower classes, raising them slightly for the top income group.

Not really. He ran on keeping taxes at current levels for middle and lower classes, raising them slightly for the top income group.
===
And he did not raise taxes on the rich, after running on that premise? Why not?
We learn today that repealing the tax raises are good for the economy. But we don’t have to balance the budget for the next 10 years, because that would not be good for the economy. Right now at least. 25 years from now, we’ll all be happier for it, when bankruptcy is predicted.
Heck, we should all have know that gas prices today would double. That was part of the plan too, that would have been happened if Obama kept to the original plan too.

And he did not raise taxes on the rich, after running on that premise? Why not?
Posted by: Mike, CO | Apr 11, 2011 6:03:08 PM
He was basically forced into not raising those taxes by Republican votes in Congress.

What Obama said in 2006 is true today. I hope the Republicans vote en-masse against raising the debt ceiling. It will not be catastrophic. The people around Obama now are Leftist Socialist elitists who love to play power politics by playing the class card. Let me say one more time, the “So-Called” RICH produce the vast majority of private sector jobs. Give them incentives to hire, and the unemployment rate will go DOWN!!
Raising the debt ceiling is not necessary if you CUT SPENDING!!
Our debt is killing us!! It is time to STOP IT!!

Posted by: Mike, CO | Apr 11, 2011 6:14:49 PM
Oh sure Mike, all the Republicans in Congress voted for the slight raise on taxes on the wealthy. It was just those dastardly Democrats who defeated it.

I mean, that worked SO well to deliver Trickle Down prosperity.
Mikey, Mikey Mikey, you arguing more than 4 billion dollars ago in just a couple years time. 8 times was spent versus taken in during March. Trickle down prosperity does work when everyone pays a share of the debt and I agree that companies need not be exempt. However, when they are taxed to oblivion they will find ways keep from paying.
And they are. Look at Obamas buddies at GE and Google, two powerful rear kissers getting away with open thievery.
And I for one would go with trckle down prosperity, any day of the week instead of what we now have and that is trickle up poverty.
And Mike, how do you like the price of gasoline? Think those Bushies are behind this?

Oh sure Mike, all the Republicans in Congress voted for the slight raise on taxes on the wealthy. It was just those dastardly Democrats who defeated it.
===
Some people slept through 2010. Fortunately, the House keeps track of its votes for posterity. Mind looking them up?
The media is supposed to remember history too, when some people forget.

Mike is not “open thievery” it is “crony capitalism”, bordering on fascism. But this is continuing policies started under Bush, Clinton, Bush, and now BarryS. These ideas are:
-PPP (public-private-partnerships)
-outsourcing
-illegal immigration (cheap labor)
-privatization of profit, socialization of losses (bailouts)
-pro-banker policies (FED, bailouts, jobs for former bankers and vice-versa)
-and war(s) for key industries and political reasons.
why else would Bush Jr (no foreign interference, no “nation building” start wars); why else would Obama (get out of ‘Bushes Wars and Gitmo’, start new wars and expand them???

“If your claim that the top 10% pay 70% of taxes is true…”
Posted by: Lydia | Apr 11, 2011 5:35:29 PM
It’s from the IRS and it’s actually higher than 70% now.
You’ve probably had more breaks than I had. I came to this country from Eastern Europe with nothing over 40 years ago. English wasn’t even my first language. I worked menial jobs for years and risked all of my savings to build a very successful restaurant from the ground up. Even though I’m much older now, I still work over 70 hours a week. I’m finally in the upper tax brackets, but it took me four decades to accumulate a decent nest egg for myself and my family.
You have a very distorted view of wealth that is based on leftist sound bites instead of actual experience. I learned long ago that most people who rail against the wealthy never become wealthy themselves. If I had shared your views on class warfare and entitlement when I was building up my business, I would have remained poor.

The left also does not understand the Laffer Curve. A good example is what do people do when the price of gas gets above a certain level (like $3.75-4 per gal)? Statistics show they quit driving as much (which is true for me). So, if you raise the tax RATE on the wealthy, they stop spending as much. Statistic show the tax revenue from the wealthy drops as the tax rate goes up.

Not really. He ran on keeping taxes at current levels for middle and lower classes, raising them slightly for the top income group.
Posted by: Dan | Apr 11, 2011 5:58:27 PM
I I no problem with that statement whoever, it would be ok if his buddies would pay and not hire oodles of lobbyists to get their taxes to ZERO

Interesting, Jake, that you don’t have a corresponding story about Republicans like Boehner who voted to raise the debt ceiling again and again over the last 10 years and now act all outraged by the prospect. I guess what they say is true, Republicans don’t pretend to care about the deficit unless there’s a Democratic president. None of these Republicans had any problem voting to raise the debt ceiling when Bush was in office. Hmmm…

Do as I say not as I do! Now that the President has admitted making mistakes do we know for sure if the mistake was in 2006 or today!

The Tea Party has Boehner wired for puppeteering.

I agree with Ron. I think the debt scare is designed to justify further sellouts to big business and an attempt to distract the nation away from the fact that they have no intention of focusing on job creation as they promised last election.
====
The sellout to big business has already happened on Obama’s watch. The idea that big business has not benefited from Obama’s policies is outrageous. Look at the oil companies. They couldn’t have wished for better policies from Obama.
If big business has not benefited from Obama, then what is the recovery all about? Small businesses? Small business sentiment is in the gutter, and they have not begun to rehire. Small business would drive job creation, but they can’t compete with the government’s regulations or debt.
To top it off, Geithner says we face doom unless the debt ceiling is raised. Can you really accuse Republicans of being chicken little when the Treasury threatens imminent doom every year?
Obviously, Obama thinks if we wait, things will improve. However, business doesn’t have the luxury of hope. They make business decisions based on this administration’s policies today.
And how can they make decisions today? When Obamacare is transposed into law, there will be how many pages of regulations? No one knows, but the legislative text was 2000 pages. Multiply that by 4 and you will have your “light” reading for a year, with the full force of the federal government behind the law in case you don’t follow it to the letter.
So while business is concerned about debt, and the lack of a plan to pay it off, they will be hit with a regulatory nightmare.
Adding to the federal debt is our salvation, as Obama has said many times before. Business is not as religious as Obama, and they are rightly questioning the faith that spending will solve our problems.

It is possible to be pro-business without totally selling out to them. That is a possibility which Republicans do not want to acknowledge exists.

I’d like to see you explain to working class Americans how trying to balance the budget by cutting major government programs which benefit them, lowering environmental regulations so their living conditions are worse and the costs of the environmental damage are passed off onto them, deregulating industry on a wide variety of safety and health issues to pass off risk, and accepting low unemployment figures for the foreseeable future like the Republicans seriously suggest is not lowering their standard of living.

I’d like to see you explain to working class Americans how trying to balance the budget by cutting major government programs which benefit them, lowering environmental regulations so their living conditions are worse and the costs of the environmental damage are passed off onto them, deregulating industry on a wide variety of safety and health issues to pass off risk, and accepting low unemployment figures for the foreseeable future like the Republicans seriously suggest is not lowering their standard of living.
===
Well, Americans could benefit in one tangible way: lower gas prices.
If gas prices continue to increase, or even stay at the same level, it is likely that the recovery will fail.
With a failed recovery, there will be no economic growth.
Without growth, there will be no job creation.
Without job creation, there will be no increase in government revenues.
Without the ability to pay off our debts, interest rates will rise.
And once that happens, we might see the great depression again.
So, there is a lot to look “forward” to, but SKIP here see no risk. The risk is all in our minds, because Obama says so.

Gallup has consistently provided evidence that investment in alternative energy sources is favored by a solid majority…sometimes more popular than any other major issue. It is not a sellout to do the public’s bidding.
====
Really, so it was the public’s idea to give GM a bailout?
And it was the public’s idea to increase government spending?
And it was the public who anticipated gas prices to double, while unemployment remains in the high 8%?
And it was the public who was asked, by Obama, to buy a hybrid minivan to compensate for high gas prices?
Big business, which is doing “fine”, according to Obama’s declaration of ARRA as a “success”, isn’t material? How many times has Obama asked the people to sacrifice at the altar of big government? Who did Obama help the most in this recovery — the oil companies!

Dearest Skippy,
TARP was a sellout.
There was an alternative that would have punished the big banks for their mistakes and still kept the banking industry alive and vibrant. But that would have required a President with a functioning brain. I doubt any Libs could figure it out.

You seem to confuse rhetoric with action
==========================
I think there is plenty of evidence that the Republicans don’t simply sellout to business, they turn over total control of the government to them. We see it time and again as credit card companies write the credit card regulations, energy companies set pollution standards at the EPA, the oversight agencies for oil platforms in the Gulf are staffed by industry insiders, and on and on when Republicans are in control. Your attempt to obfuscate these differences will not be successful Mike.

Fascism is where government is run by business. “Fascism is corporatism” according to Mussolini.

Jake Tapper deserves credit for asking the question in January and again today. If only the rest of the mainstream media were not so sycophantic.
But neither the answer in January nor the answer today really answers the question. Senator Obama did not just vote against raising the debt ceiling, he made a well-reasoned speech against incurring more federal debt. Senator Obama was right in 2006. President Obama is wrong in 2011 and Jake Tapper and the rest of the mainstream media need to challenge the White House on the change in rationale.
Senator Obama in 2006: “the cost of our debt is one of the fastest growing expenses in the Federal budget. This rising debt is a hidden domestic enemy, robbing our cities and States of critical investments in infrastructure like bridges, ports, and levees; robbing our families and our children of critical investments in education and health care reform; robbing our seniors of the retirement and health security they have counted on. Every dollar we pay in interest is a dollar that is not going to investment in America’s priorities.”

The true cost of not doing TARP will never be known either. I know many people aren’t happy with TARP, I have to confess I’m not thrilled about it myself. I just don’t think there is much political capital in assessing blame for it.
====
We are living the reality of TARP.
TARP resulted in bankers getting their bonuses, and skimming taxpayers, and gas 2x the price.
Of course, not everything is TARP’s fault, but we are in TARP’s world now.
The “profit” we earned on TARP is a figment of the Treasury’s imagination.
The real cost is embedded in the debt the US taxpayer owes.
The Treasury will never quantify the moral hazard that was caused by TARP, but I will quantify it for you.
Jamie Dimon is still CEO of JP Morgan. All other banks fired and replaced their CEO’s, but Dimon remains.
That is a quantifiable, indelible stain on the conscience of the taxpayer.

the POTUS gets away with “oops” an awful lot—some might even call it endearing…
hmm…

I know there are a lot of expenditures, some which need to be seriusly looked at, like the proverbial $100,000 toilet, and there are people who are okay with sitting back with their hands out, but a very large part of the deficit, in federal, state, and local governments, is a seroius lack of tax revenue. You have companies like G.E., the oil cos. the (Non-Profits????) like our cities own Cleveland Clinic, who avoid billions in taxes, talking about how they need a tax break to help the economy, while as in my own, formerly flourishing middle class community, you have 50 year olds, who used to make $40,000-$75,000, pushing their kids out of jobs, to deliver pizza, and round up carts at the grocery store, for considerably less, trying to avoid foreclosure. The big guys say they should, stop crying, and be happy they have a job, or they should have been better educated. How much do these people contribute to the tax system delivering pizza, and how much does that big business, deduct? They say they need the breaks to facilitate employment, but the biggest talk of jobs I’ve heard about lately, is McDonalds, who wins in a bad economy, (not to mention their contribution to good health.

Big surprise here folks.

Mick,the problem with your theory is that Obama regrets his 2006 vote-he now thinks it was an error.Nowhere does he or his spokesman offer an excuse-but you will.Why?

I think there is plenty of evidence that the Republicans don’t simply sellout to business, they turn over total control of the government to them.
POSTED BY: SKIP | APR 12, 2011 12:03:52 AM
One word, Skip: CZARS

“The U.S. is set to have the largest budget deficit of major developed economies this year and should narrow it now rather than face tough adjustments in the next two years, the International Monetary Fund said.
The U.S. shortfall will reach 10.8 percent of its gross domestic product this year, ahead of Japan and the U.K., the Washington-based IMF said in a report released today. It estimates that President Barack Obama will need to cut the deficit by 5 percentage points of GDP in the next two fiscal years, the largest adjustment in ‘at least half a century,’ to meet his pledge of halving it by the end of his four-year term.”
Of course, two months ago he proposed a budget that would increase, not decrease, the deficit. Have the Republicans finally forced this idiot to do something?

Obama has now finally learned he can be wrong sometimes. Wow! Will miracles never cease?

Is there any doubt regardless of where your idealogy falls that Obama is a complete moron? I think it past time to Impeach him.

My, what delightful comments.

Obama was right then, but now what he said about the debt ceiling then is even more true than ever. It’s him vs. him, and one can’t be serious to say he’s right now.
If the debt ceiling were not raised then, the government would have figured out how to reduce spending by now and would have probably avoided this financial crisis and this never ending recession.

pharma hts gary–”I know there are a lot of expenditures, some which need to be seriusly looked at, like the proverbial $100,000 toilet, and there are people who are okay with sitting back with their hands out, but a very large part of the deficit, in federal, state, and local governments, is a seroius lack of tax revenue.”— Wrong, we do not have a “lack of tax revenue.. we simply have a SPENDING problem.. its called living within your means and our government seems incapable of doing so… Even if the issue is lack of revenue, the answer is LOWER unemloyment which is best accomplished by keeping tax rates as low as possible.. Raising Taxes in ANYTHING but a VERY strong economy DECREASES revenue by contracting productivity and increasing unemployment.. Since you so strongly continue to cite the 75k wage earners who now deliver pizza, let me put it to you this way.. That situation was caused by America not being willing to accept the value of what they had.. Its not REASONABLE for someone with only a high school education to make 75K yet everyone in this country thinks they should and blames the company if they don’t.. its nalso not reasonable to think that a company will pay half its profits i wages, and give the other half to the governemnt and keep its doors open.. You talk about “some expenditures that need to be looked at” like the $100,000 toilet – as if giving a modicum of attention to residual graft is all that is needed to Fix the problem.. hardly.. That will not scratch the surface.. If you want the problem to be fied.. then hers a dose of REALITY.. We can NO longer afford Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid, or this monstrosity of a healthcare bill.. SSI will HAVE to be privatized, Medicare and Medicaid will have to undergo massive cuts, Programs like Welfare, healthcare, Pell grants and housing assistance will have to be scaled back.. IF NOT, then we will LOSE EVERY PART OF ALL OF THISE THINGS.. which do you want?

HE was the voting mistake. This should be corrected as soon as by Constitutional means.

We’re deep! I looked up the anticipated debt (what we spend beyond what the treasury collects) for the year will be about $1,600 billion.
Then I looked up the profits of all the companies in the US for the year and it’s $1,400 billion. That means if the government took 100% of all the profits of all the companies (call it “taxes” and assume the company’s give it willingly), we’d still be short. We’d still need to borrow money.
We got a spending problem everyone, not a revenue problem.

Obama is a spin artist who ranks high with ultra-liberals. He fooled a lot of folks with his diatribe in 2008. That will not be the case in 2012. No matter how much money he raises, he’s outta here. The real Americans have awakened.
God Bless America and all real Americans

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