President Obama and Congressional Republicans expressed optimism today about an agreement on the tax cuts due to expire at year's end, greatly raising the possiblility of a much needed compromise that could avert a tax increase for virtually every working American. The compromise came at the first face-to-face encounter between GOP leaders and the President following the heavy Democratic losses on election day. Although no formal deal was made, the meeting marked a quick departure from the norm over the past two years, where Obama dealt extensively with Democrats-mainly because Republicans were attempting to block his every move. The tax cuts would apply to people under all income groups, and although most Democrats are oppoosed to extending tax cuts for household incomes above 250,000$, they have signaled a "willingness to compromise" on this point. The participants also emerged smiling about a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia.
Now I'm just as skeptical as the next person but seeing as this is the first time Republicans have actually considered making serious compromises with the president, im beginging to wonder if this will eventually lead to even greater cooperation. And even though this lame-duck congress will soon be out, it appears as though one last piece of legislation might be passed before the year is over. Do you guys think that this spark of optimism may lead to greater coopertaion between Obama and the incoming Congress or is it merely media hype?
Heres the link to the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpIDNB0eJxg
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I,too, am starting to wonder if these talks of compromise will lead to an overall increased amount of cooperation. I want to believe that it will happen, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. Just because Republicans are willing to cooperate on this doesn't mean that they will want to cooperate on more things. Since Obama got into office, they have done a better job at blocking his agenda than helping him help America. Hopefully, this will lead our country in a better direction.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/12/01/gop.senate.demands/index.html?hpt=T2
This Article is my response to your post. It says it all.
This seems a little to good to be true, but some bipartisan compromising would be quite helpful now considering that party politics are heading in the wrong direction as of late. Also, with a Republican House, and delicate Senate some sort of reaching over the aisle was defiantly in order if Congress plans to get anything done in the next two years. Who knows, maybe Obama, like Clinton, will shift the center a bit. Also, I'm glad that there seems to have been some kind of consensus regarding the Russia arms treaty. That would have been quite sad if that was blocked
It is rare these days to hear positive news like this from or about the government. I'm hesitant to believe that Congress members have suddenly and miraculously decided to cooperate, but this kind of bipartisan cooperation is probably what our nation needs the most right now; our nation is suffering through hard times, and public opinion of the government is at the lowest of lows. Hopefully President Obama and the 111th Congress use the remainder of the year in a productive manner and end it on a positive note to set a precedent for the upcoming Congress. Although the next Congress is very polarized, perhaps we can hope that the members of our federal government will realize that they need to cooperate to solve any of our problems.
I also thought it was interesting that Obama directly addressed the press about this matter in what appears to be a presidential press conference. What has the media coverage of Obama’s administration been like, in terms of press conferences? I have the sense that Obama is more open about what’s going on in the government than Bush was, but if I’m mistaken about this, please don’t hesitate to correct me.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_tax_cuts;_ylt=AjnnTGAtaKRE.64PG9u6Y5Os0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNia2N1MTFlBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAxMjA0L3VzX3RheF9jdXRzBGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMwRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDZnVsbG5ic3BzdG9y
At first glance, this article seems to show the government working and cooperating in a positive direction. But if you keep reading, plenty of both Republican and Democratic senators express their dissatisfaction, and it is apparent that Obama is now willing to give up his original position on these tax cuts that he campaigned on in 2008. However, the article again veers to end on a positive note about the new arms control treaty with Russia: "Senior Senate Republicans have indicated they will not try to interfere with a debate on the issue as long as government spending and tax cut issues have been resolved to their satisfaction."
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