Today, President Obama met with Speaker of the House John Boehner yet again … and yet again, favored White House media outlet Politico had the inside track. According to Politico, Obama made a new offer on tax rates, proposing that tax rate hikes afflict only those earning in excess of $400,000 per year. Politico paints this as a massive compromise effort by Obama; they also paint Obama’s willingness to make a dollar-for-dollar spending cuts to new revenue deal as a huge move on his part. So much for the vaunted ten-to-one cuts to tax hikes ratio Republicans were supposed to accept during the Republican primaries; now they’re supposed to celebrate a one-to-one ratio that will likely never be achieved.
The White House says this offer is “good.”
According to Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck – who apparently is talking to Politico because it’s friendly to Republicans who cave – the Speaker is increasingly happy with Obama’s proposals. “”Any movement away from the unrealistic offers the President has made previously is a step in the right direction, but a proposal that includes $1.3 trillion in revenue for only $930 billion in spending cuts cannot be considered balanced,” he said “We hope to continue discussions with the President so we can reach an agreement that is truly balanced and begins to solve our spending problem.”
Obama still wants unemployment benefits extended, stimulus spending, and most importantly, a two-year indefinite suspension of the debt ceiling.
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