Obama says immediate action needed on fiscal cliff

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Updated: 12/28/2012 6:19 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says "the hour for immediate action is here" on a deal to avert the fiscal cliff.

The president says he remains "optimistic" that an agreement can be reached in Congress before a looming year-end deadline to avoid tax increases and spending cuts.

If Congress can't reach a deal, the president says Congress should allow a vote on a basic package that would preserve tax cuts for middle-class Americans while extending unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless and working toward a foundation for a broader deal.

The president says an hourlong meeting Friday with congressional leaders was "good and constructive."

Senate leaders say they hope to reach a compromise that could be presented to lawmakers by Sunday, little more than 24 hours before the deadline.
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tlynn - 12/29/2012 9:13 PM
0 Votes
We have a spending problem because this country decided to go to war without paying for it! That administration NEVER put the $ cost of that war on the books… This administration PUT that $ cost on the books and the deficit ballooned! I remember when wars were paid for by the people, by buying bonds, and also by rationing. Our fiscal problems were not caused by Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, or any other social issue that the Republicans want to blame it on. Republicans have always had a problem with the"New Deal", and have been trying to get rid of these programs ever since! The TARP and other "bailout" issues started in the previous administration, and thankfully, they have since been paid back. The "children" in congress need to quit acting like the millionaire children that they are, and get this problem solved! An up or down vote is what is needed right now….Get it done!

osprey1 - 12/29/2012 6:07 PM
0 Votes
If the republicans were smart they would pass the $250,ooo. the president wants, then freeze all new spending and cap the national debt at one trillion dollars lower than it is now for the next 2 years. This way the democrats can have all the fun making the cuts to the national debt.

Gunny48 - 12/29/2012 3:56 PM
1 Vote
nativejax is right - one of the reasons there is a delay in what obama wants is the fact that these "tax cuts" allow this bunch to raise the debt ceiling AGAIN!!!

nativejax - 12/29/2012 12:20 PM
2 Votes
We don’t have a “fiscal cliff” crisis because of a tax problem in America. What we have is a spending problem — Obama is a spending addict. Obama criticized Bush for adding $4 trillion to the debt in eight years. Yet Obama added just under $6 trillion in four years. He is on track to add $12 trillion to our debt by the end of his second term– three times more than Bush. And Obama has produced four consecutive trillion dollar plus deficits for the first time in history. Obama is the biggest spender of any politician in world history. What does this have to do with guns? It’s the same story. Every time there’s a crisis politicians learn the wrong lesson… come up with the wrong solution… and always use the crisis as a reason to take away our freedoms and grow government bigger.
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