BBC CNN NEWS: Politics

Obama Hosts Congressional Members After Talks Get Stuck on Tax Increases, Entitlement Spending

As the Treasury Department announced its collecting more tax revenue but still not enough to reduce the federal budget deficit below $1.4 trillion for the year, President Obama is meeting with congressional Democrats to develop a long-term approach to cutting the deficit.

The get-together Wednesday on White House grounds with the entire Democratic caucus is the first of two gatherings the president has called as talks stall over where to find compromise in reducing the budget. Obama is scheduled to meet Thursday with congressional Republicans.

Obama's involvement adds a sense of urgency to the discussions as the clock ticks for Congress to increase the nation's credit line before defaulting on its debt. The Aug. 2 deadline to increase the debt limit has been pushed back already by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who shifted around resources to prevent the U.S. from hitting its debt ceiling and potentially losing its global credit rating.

Vice President Biden had been the administration's point man on budget talks and on several occasions had huddled with negotiators from the House and Senate to find ways to reduce spending by identifying domestic programs that both sides agree can be cut.

But after meeting with congressional negotiators for two hours on Tuesday, Biden said the top House and Senate leaders may have to get involved to close any deal.

"Whether we get to the finish line with this group is another question," he said. Biden is scheduled to meet with negotiators again on Thursday.

Obama spokesman Jay Carney said Biden's call for backup is not a sign of exasperation. But as both sides say they don't want to play games with the debt ceiling, the two remain very far apart on how to stop the debt spiral.

The president isn't ready to abandon a "balanced approach" that presumably would include both spending cuts and tax increases, Carney said, and wants everyone to share the prosperity and the burden associated with long-term debt.

Democrats insist that any burden-sharing should start with an end to tax subsidies for the nation's five largest oil companies. They also reject Republican Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's fixes to Medicare and Medicaid, which they say is unduly harsh on seniors and the poor.

The oil companies "are enjoying far greater profits than we've seen in more recent years and, in fact, they're continuing to take advantage of this tax break to the tune of over $2 billion a year," said House Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman Xavier Becerra. "At the same time Republicans say that seniors in America must see their health care costs rise under Medicare because as they say, the country is broke. America is not broke. Its priorities just aren't in order."

"The Republican budget that passed the House was a totally lopsided approach. It was anything but a balanced approach," added Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. "It did not ask for any type of shared sacrifice. In fact, what it did, as my colleagues have said, was say to seniors, we're going to end the Medicare guarantee and we're going to say you've got to go into the private insurance market where costs will rise very rapidly, and by the way seniors, you've got to eat those additional costs."

For their part, Republicans are opposed to any tax increases and are demanding steep spending cuts before holding a vote on increasing the debt limit.

"The point we're making is, look, the debt ceiling will have to be raised and we have to cut spending. It's pretty simple. You really can't tax your way out of this problem. We're saying for a dollar of debt increase, we got to cut a dollar of spending," Ryan, R-Wis., told Fox News on Wednesday,

"The Democrats have been unable to present a budget because the big spenders in their caucus cannot support a plan that gets the job done and that the American people will support," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.

"American families should not be punished for the sins of Washington. According to the (Congressional Budget Office), we are going to spend $45 trillion over the next 10 years. Reports suggest that the Senate Democrat plan ... will cut, or save, just $2 trillion," Sessions said.

Republicans say they want "trillions, not billions" cut from the spending side of the ledger. That means if the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling is increased by $2 trillion, as it was last year, spending cuts of the same amount would have to be included.

Arizona Appeals to Supreme Court on Immigration Law Ruling

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced Monday she will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that put the most controversial parts of the state's immigration enforcement law on hold.

The planned appeal to the high court comes after Brewer lost an appeal April 11, when a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reverse a lower court's order that prevented key parts of the law from being enforced.

The panel said federal officials were likely to prove the law is unconstitutional and succeed in their argument that Congress has given the federal government sole authority to enforce immigration laws.

Brewer's lawyers argued the federal government hasn't effectively enforced immigration law at the border and in Arizona's interior and that the state's intent in passing the law was to assist federal authorities as Congress has encouraged.

They also argued U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton erred by accepting speculation by the federal government that the law might burden legal immigrants and by concluding the federal government would likely prevail.

The U.S. Justice Department urged the appeals court to uphold the order that blocked enforcement of parts of the law. The federal government argued the law intrudes on its exclusive authority to regulate immigration, disrupts relations between the United States and Mexico, hinders cooperation between state and federal officials, and burdens legal immigrants.

Less than a day before the law was to take effect in July, Bolton blocked key provisions from being enforced, including requirements that immigrants get and carry immigration registration papers and that police -- in enforcing other laws -- question the immigration status of those they suspect are in the country illegally. But Bolton let other parts take effect, such as a ban on obstructing traffic while seeking or offering day-labor services on streets.

The law was passed in April 2010 amid years of complaints that the federal government hasn't done enough to lessen the state's role as the nation's busiest illegal entry point. Its passage inspired protests and led to lawsuits seeking to overturn the law and a debate about whether the law would lead to racial profiling.

The Arizona law isn't the only one that has challenged federal primacy in immigration.

The U.S. Supreme Court is mulling arguments in an appeal by groups that are trying to overturn a 2007 Arizona law that prohibits employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.

Civil rights groups have filed a lawsuit aimed at halting a new immigration law in Utah, saying it is too much like portions of Arizona's immigration law.

Posted in Arizona Appeals to Supreme Court , Featured , Politics , World News | 10 May 2011|By Unknown Read More