Who Acted In Good Faith?

[djAdvocate]

so, here is how the deficit reduction proposals broke down by date. were both parties negotiating in good faith?:

February 14, 2011: President Barack Obama submits budget for 2012 with about $2 trillion in deficit reduction, half of which come from spending cuts.

April 15, 2011: House passes Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget, which includes $5.8 trillion in spending cuts along with tax cuts for the richest Americans.

May 5, 2011: Vice President Joe Biden begins debt talks.

May 11, 2011: Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) says he will not raise debt limit without spending cuts that match how much the limit is raised.

June 23, 2011: Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) walks away from debt ceiling talks with Biden after refusing to consider any tax increases. The administration had offered $2.4 trillion in spending cuts for $400 billion in taxes, an 83:17 split.

July 7, 2011: Obama and Boehner begin debt-ceiling negotiations.

July 9, 2011: Boehner walks away from Obama’s “grand bargain”: $4 trillion in debt reduction comprised of $1 trillion in revenue and $3 trillion in spending cuts, including entitlement reforms.

July 19, 2011: The Gang of Six proposes a $4 trillion deficit reduction plan, including $2 trillion in revenue.

July 22, 2011: Again, Boehner walks away from negotiations after Obama offers $1.2 trillion in revenues and $1.6 trillion in spending cuts, including entitlements.

July 31, 2011: Debt ceiling agreement is reached, cutting $1 trillion in spending immediately and establishing the super committee to reduce deficits by at least an additional $1.2 trillion.

October 26, 2011: Democrats first super committee offer is $3 trillion in deficit reduction comprised of about $1.3 trillion in revenues and $1.7 trillion in spending cuts, including cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. Republicans immediately reject it. Republicans’ first super committee offer is $2.2 trillion in deficit reduction, which includes no new tax revenues.

November 8, 2011: Republicans’ second super committee offer is $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction. It does include $300 billion in new tax revenue, but in exchange for extending the Bush tax cuts and lowering the top tax rate. The plan would ultimately cut taxes for the wealthy and raise them for everyone else.

November 10, 2011: Democrats’ second offer is $2.3 trillion in deficit reduction, consisting of $1.3 trillion in spending cuts and $1 trillion in revenue. The revenue would be split between $350 billion in concrete measures and $650 billion in future tax reform. Republicans reject it.

November 11, 2011: Democrats agree to Republicans’ top lines including just $400 billion in revenues and $875 billion in spending cuts, but refuse to accept the GOP’s tax cut for the rich. Republicans reject it and make their final offer: $640 billion in spending cuts and $3 billion in revenues.

[reformeddaytrader]

Who Acted In Good Faith

Joe Biden

[dancinmama]

No one. Cutting future spending increases does not constitute a cut.

[Deleted]

No one. Cutting future spending increases does not constitute a cut.

I still can't get over the fact that Prez. Obama ignored the earlier commission (that he convened) that actually came to an agreement.

edited: if that worked I lost 1lb today by walking past the fudge at the grocery store.

[formerexpat]

The devil is in the details. Neither side was acting in good faith. The spending cuts were measured over 10 year periods and could easily be circumvented. See the discussions already taking place to avoid the automatic $1.2 trillion in cuts that are to be triggered.

We are quickly making our way through the 3rd turning.

[djAdvocate]

Nov 21, 2011 22:45:16 GMT -5 formerexpat said:

The devil is in the details. Neither side was acting in good faith. The spending cuts were measured over 10 year periods and could easily be circumvented. See the discussions already taking place to avoid the automatic $1.2 trillion in cuts that are to be triggered.

We are quickly making our way through the 3rd turning.

i thought the June 23rd deal was really good. however, it was an Obama proposal, NOT a Democrat proposal. i didn't like any of the GOP proposals OR any of the Democrat proposals, so i guess i agree with everyone here. the president acted in good faith, imo- his proposals were a compromise between what the GOP wanted and what the Democrats wanted, but neither party budged.

my verdict: neither.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Nov 21, 2011 20:40:17 GMT -5 dancinmama said:

No one. Cutting future spending increases does not constitute a cut.

DING! We have a winner!

[formerexpat]

I thought there were plans that would have put a hard cap on spending. Those are the ones I'd be interested in. I don't like the thought of spending an unborn child's future earnings today.

June 23, 2011: Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) walks away from debt ceiling talks with Biden after refusing to consider any tax increases. The administration had offered $2.4 trillion in spending cuts for $400 billion in taxes, an 83:17 split.

The CBO expects revenues to be back at the LT 18% of GDP in 2013...without tax increases. Not sure why we need to raise taxes if they return to LT averages.

That is the hard spending cap I'd like to see; 17-18%. Once that is agreed to, I would agree to have a 20 year period of 20.5% to GDP with the 2.5% per annum going toward deficit. The subsequent x years would be at 19% of GDP until the national debt is paid off. Then it would return to 18% with a budget of 17.5% per year, using the 0.5% to go into reserve for recessionary periods where unexpected revenue drops do not cover the current year expenses [I'm assuming the expenses would be built off the GDP a year in arrears].

Something like this, I'd like to see if I were king for a day.

[handyman2]

Yep both sides just played politics and no tax payer won. Obama is already blaming the Republicans but that song is old and I doubt few are listening.

[Deleted]

Who Acted In Good Faith?

Billy Graham? I just "assumed" you included all the politic stuff as a smoke screen because we know there wasn't any good faith there.

[djAdvocate]

Nov 22, 2011 0:38:28 GMT -5 @oldtex said:

Who Acted In Good Faith?

Billy Graham? I just "assumed" you included all the politic stuff as a smoke screen because we know there wasn't any good faith there.

i always assume the best, tex.

[djAdvocate]

Nov 22, 2011 0:20:39 GMT -5 handyman2 said:

Yep both sides just played politics and no tax payer won. Obama is already blaming the Republicans but that song is old and I doubt few are listening.

he could just as easily blame the Democrats from what i see above.

[Don Perignon]

The Big Bad Soviet Union fell apart more than a decade ago. The Cold War fiasco is over... there's no need t continue bankrupting the nation with huge military budgets.
Except, unfortunately, the military spending has been like an addictive drug, and will not be easily withdrawn. The Military/Industrial Complex that Eisenhower warned us about has been in the driver's seat for six decades, and will not be dispossessed without taking everyone else down with them.

[djAdvocate]

Nov 22, 2011 19:34:33 GMT -5 Don Perignon said:

The Big Bad Soviet Union fell apart more than a decade ago. The Cold War fiasco is over... there's no need t continue bankrupting the nation with huge military budgets.
Except, unfortunately, the military spending has been like an addictive drug, and will not be easily withdrawn. The Military/Industrial Complex that Eisenhower warned us about has been in the driver's seat for six decades, and will not be dispossessed without taking everyone else down with them.

also, men seem to have this withdrawl issue. they don't like to think about it.