Tag Archive | "government shutdown"

Obama Announces Long-Term Plan


A long term plan, which is likely to offer solution on the budget deficit reduction, is being proposed by President Obama on Wednesday. In his speech, Obama is likely to ask for a “shared sacrifice,” which involves budget cuts and taxes to solve the country’s national debts.

An even larger budget fight awaits President Barrack Obama and the leaders from the the Democratic and Republican parties in the Congress on Monday, just few days after a nearly narrow escape from a possibly harmful federal government shutdown.

For the next few months, conflicts are expected to arise in the political regime and would most probably highlight President Obama’s race in the re-election in 2012. This would likely outshine the $38 billion spending cut for the last six months of this year.

Representative Eric Cantor, the no. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives said the spending cut agreed this week is only the start of what he called the first bite of the apple. Several Republicans, who made out big in the last November elections, are doubtful of President Obama’s sincerity on the debt reduction.

On his interview with Fox news, Cantor said it is difficult to trust what the Obama administration is saying or what it is going to say.

Obama’s said plan will investigate savings in the area of defense spending, as well as the state-run Medicare, including Medicaid programs for the health of the poor and elderly people. This aims to cut the $1.4 trillion yearly financial deficit said Senior White House adviser David Plouffe.

Posted in Featured News, Nation and WorldComments (0)

Obama and Other Leaders Short of Deal While Government Shutdown Looms


United States President Barack Obama and all the congressional leaders have not reached an agreement regarding the compromise and the plans to cut spending costs. Analysts fear that the disagreements within the congress will force a Friday midnight government shutdown. No one, however, seems to want a shutdown.

The President, Senate Majority Leader, and Speaker of the House John Boehner said that during two meetings in the White House, some of the differences have been narrowed down. They worked through the night to come up with a deal. Right after the meeting, Obama said in the White House’s briefing room that he wants and answer by sun up.

The president fears that a shutdown will cause a huge blow to the already improving U.S economy. In the last months, the economy has started to create jobs for a lot of people and Obama believes it is unacceptable to put a stop on the improvement just because Washington can’t get it right.

Because coming up with an agreement seems to be a long shot, Republicans passed a legislation to fund the Pentagon for another six months but cut $12 billion on domestic spending. Boehner said that there is no reason that the Senate should not follow the House in making sure that the government remains open.

Obama, however, threatened to veto the bill even before the said bill passed. The White House said that the legislation looks like a distraction from what the congress should be focusing on.

The Senate is yet to pass its own bill. In the mean time, the Congress passed two short-term measures just to keep the government running. Moreover, they also approved $10 billion worth of budget cuts.

Posted in Featured News, Nation and WorldComments (0)