Dems silent on tonight's WH meeting

[chill_wind]

Silence on Obama Meeting Follows Uproar Over Debt Deal Rumors

"Upon returning to the Capitol from the White House, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said he had no comment on the session with Obama, who reportedly is in discussions with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to cut a deal worth $3 trillion in savings over 10 years with no upfront tax code changes. When asked whether his silence reflected progress or frustration, the Illinois Democrat responded, “Possibly one or the other.”

(snip)

A spokesman for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said there would be no readout of the meeting, and David Krone, the chief of staff for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), had no comment for reporters walking through the Capitol’s carriage entrance moments after the White House session concluded Thursday evening."

http://www.rollcall.com/news/senate_democrats_volcanic_over_deal_rumors-207575-1.html?pos=hftxt

[Ruby the Liberal]

1. Not a good sign, imo

I take it that they are working on their message. If it was good news, they would have hinted at that.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

2. Shit. Why is he doing this? nt

[aquart]

3. Because killing grandmothers (now that he doesn't have one)

is not as bad as destroying the entire planet.

Seriously, that's the excuse. They must kill me to prevent default.

[LetTimmySmoke]

6. Because he is the type of personality that when someone disapproves of him...

...he then idolizes that person and tries to win their favor.

[SusanaMontana41]

9. Otherwise known as the "Need to Please" disease. n/t

[QC]

14. Bill Clinton had it pretty bad, but nothing like this. n/t

[chill_wind]

4. Gang of Six’ to Meet With Senate Leadership

‘Gang of Six’ to Meet With Senate Leadership

By Humberto Sanchez
Roll Call Staff
July 21, 2011, 9:26 p.m.


Members of the Senate’s bipartisan “gang of six” will meet with the chamber’s leaders Friday morning to discuss the possibility of moving their deficit reduction proposal through Congress.

The meeting was originally planned for Thursday afternoon, but it was postponed after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) were called to the White House for an evening meeting with President Barack Obama and House Democratic leaders, according to Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad. The North Dakota Democrat and Durbin are members of the gang of six, which put forward a plan this week to cut about $4 trillion from the deficit over 10 years.

(snip)

Another gang of six member, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), said that the group is trying to work with Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who are developing a process that would ensure the debt ceiling is raised by Aug. 2.

“One of the things we have got to sort through is ... any way we can be helpful to” the leaders, Warner said Thursday.

He added that he has been encouraged by the favorable response to the plan from his Senate colleagues. When asked how many support the plan, Warner said, “It is a growing list and more than a third of the Senate.”


Pitching to the Center

Sen. Warner plans to pitch the plan to the majority leader and to centrist House Dems

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=1531078&mesg_id=1533068

[Liberalynn]

12. Lets hope its gets fillibustered

and the "growing list" gets nipped in the bud.

[jaxx]

5. Very sensible of them to not feed the rumor machine.

[KittyWampus]

13. But the rumor machine MUST be fed. What will DU do without rumors?

[woo me with science]

19. Yes, best to leave the people out of this.

:sarcasm:

We'll know enough when it's passed.

[guruoo]

21. Or tip their hand to the Repugs. nt

[BlueIris]

7. My guess is that it wasn't about the debt deal. nt

[louslobbs]

8. Now that's the kind of transparency in government we should come to expect from the corporate state.

Lou

[chill_wind]

11. I should say.

They know what is best for us.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

10. "How to screw most of Americans without letting them know they've been screwed again"

..until it's too late, anyway. ie: "How can we market this poison pill to the populace so they won't know how deadly it is until after they swallow it?"

[KittyWampus]

15. A poison pill in terms of legislation means INTENTIONALLY inserting something

to wreck it's chance of passing.

[toddwv]

16. Not standard practice.

There must be something up.

If I was a Republican, I would be a bit nervous.

[sad sally]

17. Secret meetings that treat us like the subject is too complex for us

to understand, lead to mistrust - secret governments don't act in the best interest of the majority of the people.

Bet the readouts of these meeting aren't withheld from wall street (golden sacks, etc.)

[woo me with science]

20. Obama: "The public is not paying close attention...They shouldn't."

July 11 Press Conference
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/07/11/press-conference-president

"The public is not paying close attention to the ins and outs of how a Treasury option goes. They shouldn’t.... We're paid to worry about it."

[inna]

22. i do NOT like the way it sounds - but what the heck is "a Treasury option", anyway??

[guruoo]

18. Good.

Loose lips sink ships.

[w4rma]

23. Torpedo this ship. (nt)

[chill_wind]

24. Morning after: Well THAT went well!

Reid said “circumstances have changed” in the wake of media reports that Obama and Boehner are closing in on a $3 trillion deficit-reduction deal that would raise the debt limit and establish a promise to reform the tax code at a later date.

"Reid: The path to avert default now runs through the House of Representative"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1547727#top

Pelosi Outlines Revenue-Free Path Forward On Debt Limit Fight

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi acknowledged Friday that Democrats may reluctantly accept a last-minute compromise to raise the debt limit that involves up to $2.5 trillion in spending cuts, without any agreed-upon plan for new tax revenues.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/07/pelosi-outlines-revenue-free-path-forward-on-debt-limit-fight.php

The dirty rotten devil's in the dirty rotten details.

Pelosi reiterated her insistence that Democrats will oppose cuts to entitlement benefits as a tool of deficit reduction. And she established a rule of thumb for how much help Boehner can expect from her party.

"As far as the number is concerned, the bigger the cuts the fewer the Democrats," she said.
Talking Points Memo on Facebook

But this again leaves open the question of what individual Democrats count as a benefit cut, and how well they'd take to the idea of a plan that didn't include agreed upon revenue increases, or guaranteed revenues in the future.

So SS Cola cut "technical adjustments", or not? Why won't she just speak English? At least, unlike trying decode Pelosi, I THINK I understand what Barney Frank's position is.

In an interview with TPM, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) -- the top Dem on the House Financial Services Committee -- dismissed outright, and in Frank-esque terms, the idea of reducing seniors' cost of living adjustments, or increasing the Medicare eligibility age. "That's people who've been sitting on their asses their whole lives telling some woman who's been standing on her feet as a store clerk that 67's too early for her -- she should do it till she's 70."

But he distinguished those sorts of benefit cuts from means-testing of both Social Security and Medicare, which he said would be appropriate steps to take to improve America's fiscal situation.