With
the fiscal cliff looming over everyone's heads, President Obama has been
caught between a rock and a hard place trying to get congress Republicans and
Democrats to compromise.
Rate this posting:
Both sides have unrealistic demands that
make it seem like most Congress members don’t understand the definition of the
word “compromise.” The Norquist Tax Pledge especially, signed by 95% of
Republican Congressmen and women before the 2012 election, shows that many
members aren't willing to try. But President Obama is just as unrealistic. His
most recent proposal on Thursday, a detailed plan to address the “fiscal
cliff,” contains almost no concessions to Republicans. He also has been “taking
it to the people” to get support for his tax increases. However, someone needs to
remind him that the fight and the power is not with the people; it’s with
Congress members. There are many congress members such as Republican Phil Gingrey who believe that the citizens of their
state are not in support of the tax increases. Is it for Congressman Gingrey
and others like him to go against what their constituents want for the majority
of Americans? Perhaps so, but President Obama needs to be more mindful
of these concerns. Also, President Obama seems to have gone back to his old
practices. Perhaps instead of spending time complaining to the people who have
elected him based on his tax plan and pointing fingers at Congress members, President
Obama should be negotiating with them. A couple of Twitter updates and
some angry bloggers won’t exact change—that must happen with compromise.
Even so, there are many Congress
members like Republican Representative Tom Cole who are willing to make
a compromise. Rep. Cole, though still in opposition to raising taxes on the
wealthy, wants to extend the tax-cut rates for people making $250,000 or less
this year and come to an agreement about households in the upper income brackets later. In
a CNN interview, Cole commented, “If
we agree that taxes shouldn't go up on 98% of the people, shouldn't we take
that now and get that set aside and make sure that they know they're taxes
aren't going up?” This position is supported by democrats and
seems like a valid argument. Why wouldn’t Congress Republicans want to get at
least some of the taxes sorted out while the stalemate about the other 2% of Americans continues? At this point, with the fiscal cliff around
the corner, it seems worthless to continue waiting. Still, Rep. Cole received
heavy criticism from the GOP and Speaker John Boehner. It’s almost as if some
Congress Republicans are refusing to compromise out of stubbornness and they aren't allowing any Congress Republicans to sway from their position without backlash. Have they forgotten
that a compromise is the ultimate goal?
In the end, everyone’s at fault. Congress Republicans need to be more practical with their demands while Obama needs to stop campaigning and work with Congress. There must be other solutions to this problem, and the only way to address this pending fiscal cliff is implementing a combination of government spending cuts, reforms, and revenue increases.
In the end, everyone’s at fault. Congress Republicans need to be more practical with their demands while Obama needs to stop campaigning and work with Congress. There must be other solutions to this problem, and the only way to address this pending fiscal cliff is implementing a combination of government spending cuts, reforms, and revenue increases.
{[['
']]}
']]}