President Obama held yet another news conference this morning on the debt ceiling crisis starting off his remarks as follows:
Right now, the House of Representatives is still trying to pass a bill that a majority of Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have already said they won’t vote for. It’s a plan that would force us to re-live this crisis in just a few short months, holding our economy captive to Washington politics once again. In other words, it does not solve the problem, and it has no chance of becoming law.
What’s clear now is that any solution to avoid default must be bipartisan. It must have the support of both parties that were sent here to represent the American people -– not just one faction. It will have to have the support of both the House and the Senate. And there are multiple ways to resolve this problem. Senator Reid, a Democrat, has introduced a plan in the Senate that contains cuts agreed upon by both parties. Senator McConnell, a Republican, offered a solution that could get us through this. There are plenty of modifications we can make to either of these plans in order to get them passed through both the House and the Senate and would allow me to sign them into law. And today I urge Democrats and Republicans in the Senate to find common ground on a plan that can get support — that can get support from both parties in the House –- a plan that I can sign by Tuesday. [the full text is available at www.whitehouse.gov]
John Boehner is readying his bill for a vote in the house this evening while Harry Reid readies a different bill in the Senate. Why can’t they all get along for the sake of our debt?
I understand that the revenue the Treasury receives from taxes covers only about 60% of its obligations. But who will or won’t get paid and how will that affect real people’s everyday lives? What do you think?
