Democrats Emerge From White House Meeting Determined Not To Cave On Medicare, Taxes (updated)

[ProSense]

Democrats Emerge From White House Meeting Determined Not To Cave On Medicare, Taxes

Susan Crabtree

House Democrats emerged from a White House meeting with President Obama confident that the GOP Medicare plan has Republicans on the ropes and more determined than ever to ensure that tax increases on the wealthiest Americans are included in any long-term debt-reduction package.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said the meeting was "very productive" and a "great exchange of ideas."

In negotiations with Republicans to raise the debt-ceiling and reduce the ballooning debt, Pelosi said Democrats and the President are committed to strengthening the middle class and reducing the debt with "balance" and "fairness."

She also said that the primary focus of the meetings was on greater job creation.

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Updated to add this from HuffPo

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"I was very pleased by the firmness the president displayed that defaulting on the debt is absolutely not an option," Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said. "He expressed some optimism that they would be able to reach an agreement in a month or so. and what he said that I think is quite practical and important for all of us in Congress to understand is we really can't afford to have a countdown clock on reaching a resolution on the debt ceiling."

Added Welch: "If we create real uncertainty in the market -- and we're already seeing some market volatility -- that could do lasting damage to the country's credit rating and do real damage to a fragile economy."

Attendees said other key meeting topics included raising taxes on the wealthy, new highway and jobs bills, withdrawing from Afghanistan and protecting domestic social programs in ongoing budget talks with the Republicans.

The president offered few specifics on those fronts, but did insist he'd stand by Medicare, which the Republican budget proposal would turn into a more costly system of subsidies for private insurance programs. And Obama allowed that raising revenues was on the table.

"He said Medicare is not negotiable," said Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.), who felt the overall discussion was positive and appreciated by the members.

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[roguevalley]

1. good. if they screw this up our country is totally over. :)

[Diamonique]

2. The Dems hold all the cards. They'd better not screw this up. nt

[AndyTiedye]

10. The Repigs Have 5 Aces and a Joker

The joker is the debt ceiling.

They can shut down Medicare and everything else that isn't miitary or cops,
just by forcing us into default on the debt ceiling.

The 5 aces are ABC, CBS, NBC, FAUX, and CNN,
which always cover for the Repigs, and will blame Obama for the resulting economic hardships.

[lob1]

3. It's good news, but the dems should've been saying that

going INTO the meeting. Medicare should be off the table.

[DCBob]

7. I dont think Medicare is off the table..

I think the only thing off the table is Ryan's "CouponCare" proposal. I suspect the Dems are willing to negotiate on some modest modifications/cuts if they can also get some tax increases.

[DCBob]

4. Hoyer: "We need to bring the deficits down and make sure Medicare is strengthened and preserved."

This sounds like they are going to agree to some "modificiation" of Medicare... but I am sure nowhere near what the GOP wants.

[Cali_Democrat]

5. I trust Nancy Pelosi

[Scuba]

6. +1

[LiberalFighter]

8. I want to see every Republican feeling miserable and dejected.

[RC]

9. The concept of fixing Medicare is really simple.

Undo everything the Republican President George Walker Bush did to destroy this country.
Stop his self perpetuating wars. We are making the so-called terrorist we are fighting.
Bring our troops home and close most of the almost 800 military bases we have around the world. Each single troop in Afghanistan and Iraq is costing us, U.S. one million dollars a year to supply. Each and every Troop!
With no wars, we can slice our so-called Defense budget in half, then slice it in half again. We will still be out spending both Russia and China together.
Reinstate the taxes George W. Bush cut for his well to do friends. No more tax subsidies for multinational corporations.

Get our manufacturing and other Living Wage Jobs back into this country. That is the biggest reason Social Security and Medicare are "in trouble". The high unemployment rate and lack of Living Wage Jobs that cut revenue for a properly functioning government.
Rebuild our own failing infrastructure. Build a High Speed Rail system in this country. Imagine the many hundreds of thousands of jobs that will make. And the spinoffs from those jobs. This will jump-start the economy. Look at our Interstate Highway system for inspiration.

Put in place a Single Payer, Universal Health Care system. Put the money sucking parasitic health insurance companies out of business. They are killing too many of us for their profit. We are the last industrialized country to go to Single Payer, the only holdout.

These actions will supply and shore up the Living Wage jobs that pay the taxes that Social Security and Medicare depend on, far into the future. And yes, everything I have listed is all tied together and needs to be done. Do what I listed and there will then be plenty of money for Medicare and Social Security. And for paying off the debt all at the same time.

Without living wage jobs and full employment the rest is nothing more than angels dancing on the head of a pin.

[slipslidingaway]

11. "Put in place a Single Payer, Universal Health Care system."

"The concept of fixing Medicare is really simple."

+1000

And we'll never have the votes if advocates are not invited to discussions, we cannot blame the Republicans for that when the Dems set the agenda.

[BREMPRO]

13. easy good solutions... .hard to get through congress

we need the president to stop trying to half compromise.. and lead on bold solutions that WORK.. and dems in congress to grow a pair... problem is when they do have courage to stand up with courage and speak truth to power like Weiner, they get taken out with the RW favorite weapon of choice: character assassination- the modern equivalent of a bullet.... they are all afraid.. for good reason.

I mostly blame the repukes, corporate lobby money, and rw media.. maybe we could just get rid of them haha!... any ideas?

[Kolesar]

12. Kill the intercontinental nuclear saturation bombing fleet

If you want to trim the federal budget.