Your daily jolt: Isakson, Chambliss say White House will have to bargain over debt ceiling
President Barack Obama may not want to negotiate over another increase in the federal debt ceiling, but Republicans nonetheless intend to bring him to the table, Johnny Isakson said this morning, in one of his first interviews as a member of the Senate Finance Committee.
Isakson was on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” and first was asked to explain his vote in favor of a fiscal cliff agreement that set tax rates – but failed to address spending. Said the Georgia senator:
”It gave certainty to American business, small business, and families on what taxes would be. It made them permanent for everybody except those at $400,000 – and $450,000 for a couple. It’s good policy to make your tax policy permanent, so there’s not uncertainty every year….
“That was the good part. The bad part is that it was done behind closed doors, between just a very few people, when the issue should have been debated before the American people. That I’m sure will happen on the debt ceiling.
“….You have three cliffs coming in the month of March. You have the sequester, you have the debt ceiling, and you have the continuing resolution…..The president can fold his arms all he wants to and say he’s not going to negotiate, but in fact it’s time we made permanent decisions on policy, to begin to amortize and reduce our debt over time, make our spending done on a cost-benefit analysis, and stop issuing continuing resolutions.”
***
In a morning telephone chat with a gaggle of reporters, including my AJC colleague Daniel Malloy, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss had much the same message:
“Here’s my position: Mr. President, you have said you’re not going to engage in a protracted debate over raising the debt ceiling. My message to the president is you better strap on your chin strap very tight because this junkyard dog is going to address entitlement reform in the debt ceiling debate. … It’s time to get our arms around the debt and the time to do that is during the debt ceiling debate.”
***
And yet, over on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” former House speaker Newt Gingrich disagreed, and theorized that it would be better for Republicans to think long-term. The former Georgia congressman predicted that a fight over the federal government’s credit limit would be another GOP debacle.
Said Gingrich:
“They’ve got to find, in the House, a totally new strategy. Everybody’s now talking about, ‘Okay, now comes the debt ceiling.’ I think that’s, frankly, a dead loser. Because in the end you know it’s going happen. The whole national financial system is going to come in to Washington, buy television and say, ‘Oh my God, this will be a gigantic heart attack, the entire economy of the world will collapse. You guys can’t be responsible.’ And they’ll cave.”
***
Politico.com this morning focuses on U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston’s new role as chairman of a House Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over President Barack Obama’s Affordable Health Care Act.
The Savannah Republican – who, like the vast majority of his GOP colleagues, has sworn to repeal the legislation — acknowledged that he won’t be making a lot of decisions by himself:
“You just have to be aware that on our side, people can’t stand it, and they have not grown used to it and they do not like it any more than they did when it was passed,” he said. “Therefore, whenever you’re touching it, Obamacare is as sensitive as gun control or abortion. It’s just one of those very difficult, political things where you’re all for it or all against it.”
Kingston emphasized that much of his role in guiding the financing for HHS and Obamacare will be defined by party leaders. “If I have a role of being a quarterback, then I’m not going to be the one calling all the plays,” he said. “I think a lot of what we do on the Affordable Care Act is going to be in coordination with the front office of Appropriations and presumably with leadership and with authorizing committees.”
***
Apparently, that ambassadorship to the Seychelles islands didn’t come through. My AJC colleague Aaron Gould Sheinin reports this:
Tharon Johnson, who led President Barack Obama’s re-election effort across the South and in the key battleground state of Florida, has joined McKenna Long & Aldridge as a managing director in its national governmental affairs unit.
Johnson, 34, an Atlanta native, was Obama’s 2012 national southern regional director and led the president’s campaign to a narrow win in Florida and a close loss in the other battleground state of North Carolina. Both states were decided by fewer than a million votes.
***
While he declared Thursday that state law won’t let him pursue the suspension of Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill, Gov. Nathan Deal has left himself a loophole. The governor declared that, because Hill was indicted for public malfeasance after he was out of office, the state law setting out the rules for ousting elected officials doesn’t apply.
A judge has thrown several counts against Hill out. If the special prosecutor pursues the matter, and obtains new indictments, then we have a new ball game.
***
Over at 11Alive, Jenna Herb reports that Kennesaw State University’s request to launch a football program will hit the Board of Regents next Tuesday, Jan. 8. There’s some indication that the decision isn’t in doubt:
President [Dan] Papp and KSU’s Director of Athletics Vaughn Williams will conduct a briefing on the Regents’ decision on Wednesday, Jan. 9. The event will be held at noon, in the Convocation Center on the Kennesaw State University campus.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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287 comments Add your comment
Voter
January 4th, 2013
11:35 am
@DJ Sniper – “ObamaCare”
It needs to be repealed. Have you read some of it? You will not like it. The taxes it will raise and the “gestapo” type tactics it will use are unconstitutional.
Retired Soldier
January 4th, 2013
11:35 am
WOW-
I agree, but Obama has said he won’t play. A few ideas to start. 10 per cent of the defense budget, the energy department, education department, homeland security department, adopt the Fair Tax and eliminate the IRS, means test social security and medicare.
There is a start, what are your ideas.
honested
January 4th, 2013
11:38 am
voter,
You do make us wonder how someone like broun ever got elected in the first place.
Voter
January 4th, 2013
11:38 am
@Retired Soldier – I like it. Good plan.
Retired Soldier
January 4th, 2013
11:39 am
Let’s see, Sen Reid and Obama for a start. That in effect is what they are saying by saying we won’t negoiate.
Voter
January 4th, 2013
11:39 am
@honested – What district does he represent?
Georgia, The " New Mississippi "
January 4th, 2013
11:39 am
America vs the GOP Johnny Rebs…………these guys are like kamikazes trying to take everyone else down with them.
Retired Soldier
January 4th, 2013
11:39 am
Voter-
Thank you
Voter
January 4th, 2013
11:40 am
@honested – Do you mean Paul Broun of 10th district, Tea Party man?
WOW
January 4th, 2013
11:41 am
@ Retired:
To be honest that’s not a bad starting point from my personal perspective. I would say 5%, rather than 10% and no way on the Fair Tax, but that’s just me. The American people, however, disagree. There is no way means testing social security and medicare would ever pass the Congress.
Voter
January 4th, 2013
11:43 am
@Georgia/Mississippi – “America vs the GOP Johnny Rebs…………these guys are like kamikazes trying to take everyone else down with them.”
Trying to curtail spending is “taking everyone else down”?
Would you allow your wife or children to spend more than you take in, in your household? How long would you last?
Retired Soldier
January 4th, 2013
11:43 am
Liberals, you have to love them, bless their heart. Trying to reduce debt and deficitsis like a kamikazes. On in America.
Retired Soldier
January 4th, 2013
11:47 am
WOW-
Knock me down, we will make a fiscal hawk out of you yet. Let’s convince Obama and Congress to have the two of us fix this problem and as we used to say in the Army, we’ll be cooking with grease.
Voter
January 4th, 2013
11:47 am
For all our liberals who failed math in elementary school.
Government is taking in approx. $5 billion a day in revenue and spending approx. $6 billion a day.
That is like your taking home say $5,000 a month and your bills are $6,000 a month. At what point do you decide to stop SPENDING more than you are taking in?
Georgia, The " New Mississippi "
January 4th, 2013
11:48 am
@ voter and Retired Soldier………kamikazes do not compromise or negotiate ……….just like the House GOP Johnny Rebs.
Voter
January 4th, 2013
11:49 am
My gosh, with the exception of my ex-wife, I have never talked to such hard-headed people as these liberals!
Voter
January 4th, 2013
11:50 am
@Georgia/Miss. – Excuse me, did they not just compromise on the latest bill?
Retired Soldier
January 4th, 2013
11:53 am
Georgia-
I believe the only person that has said he won’t neogiate is Obama about the debt ceiling. But I guess that one doen’t count since it’s Obama.
Jon Lester
January 4th, 2013
11:54 am
So Zaxby is essentially promising that runaway defense spending is off limits, but the “entitlement” programs we’ve all paid into need “reform?”
DJ Sniper
January 4th, 2013
11:57 am
I wonder what type of tomfoolery the GOP will engage in regarding the debt ceiling this time around. I still remember how they were willing to shut down the federal government last year all in the name of their ideological war with Planned Parenthood. And they wonder why people view them as out of touch.
Voter
January 4th, 2013
11:58 am
DJ Sniper – I believe most think your kind, (liberal) is out of touch.
Retired Soldier
January 4th, 2013
11:58 am
Jon-
Where did Saxby mention defense? Even Obama has said SS and Medicare needs to be reformed. Doing it is a different matter.
Retired Soldier
January 4th, 2013
12:00 pm
Jon-
Besides if defense spending is “runaway” then why hasn’t Obama reduced it in the last four years?
Voter
January 4th, 2013
12:01 pm
@Jon Lester – What did Saxby say?
And the entitlement programs I mean are free welfare for those who are having children just to collect money from the Government, then free Food-stamps, then free housing, then free cell phones. At what point do we stop?
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 4th, 2013
12:01 pm
obozo is already looking for ways to jack the debt ceiling up without going through Congress.
Voter
January 4th, 2013
12:03 pm
@Retired soldier – “Besides if defense spending is “runaway” then why hasn’t Obama reduced it in the last four years?”
Good point! Liberals can’t see that, they never seem to grasp that Obama did nothing in his first 4 years and blamed others.
Shine
January 4th, 2013
12:05 pm
Well here’s a scenerio….the House passed a Hurricane Sandy aide bill with more to come.
So lets assume these are the three ways to pay for it.
1) add it to the deficit
2 )raise revenue
3) cut Retired Soldiers benefits being he is so gung ho to cut mine..
Voter
January 4th, 2013
12:05 pm
@Aesop – “obozo is already looking for ways to jack the debt ceiling up without going through Congress.”
That’s King George, I mean, King obozo bin biden for America.
WOW
January 4th, 2013
12:06 pm
@ Retired:
Your approach is correct. I don’t agree with Gov Deal on hardly anything, but this is one thing he got correct. When he had to cut, he went to each Department and said give me 5% you decide what it is and that is how we will budget. Seems fair to me. Everyone has to give a little.
Retired Soldier
January 4th, 2013
12:08 pm
shine-
Cute, what benefits of yours have I advocated?
Voter
January 4th, 2013
12:08 pm
@Shine – Ahhh, another liberal added for today.
I say we pay for it by cutting Congress and the Executive Branch’s salary by 10%. Maybe also cutting back on their perks also. They certainly haven’t earned it these past few years.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 4th, 2013
12:10 pm
‘The worst day of my presidency’: Barack Obama receives the horrific news about the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
Gosh, I wonder why obozo wants to share this information with us now? Are we reliving the highlights and lowlights of our presidency and just forgot to share all the others? Has this tragedy tore him so much that he had to put his billion dollar Hawaiian Fun-In-The-Sun vacation on hold?
Or is he just a craven user of dead children for the long sought after goal of any other America hating socialist?
curious
January 4th, 2013
12:11 pm
Now that runaway Defense spending has been placed at Obama’s feet, I’m confident we’ll be hearing demands from the Republicans to curb runaway defense spending. Right?
td
January 4th, 2013
12:11 pm
DJ Sniper
January 4th, 2013
10:30 am
Raising the debt ceiling never seemed to be much of an issue until Obama took office. The GOP continues to remain stuck in a time warp.
Really, do we need to go back to 2007 and listen to Senator Obama rail about raising the debt ceiling?
From Sen. Obama’s Floor Speech, March 20, 2006:
The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that “the buck stops here.” Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.
Retired Soldier
January 4th, 2013
12:11 pm
WOW-
Not a big fan of Deal either. I would love to be in charge of reducing the federal government. I would be happy to take all the blame, it’s called leadership. Something niether party has.
Voter
January 4th, 2013
12:16 pm
@td – Well said!
Unfortunately most liberals, (hussein obama included), seem to think that our elected officials are not answerable to the people. They forget those little words from The Declaration of Independence,”deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” or from the Constitution ” We the people”.
Shine
January 4th, 2013
12:16 pm
Got to cut spending Retired Soldier is your drum beat…..vet benefits are expensive. Not just at the federal level but all the freebies and exemptions you “deadbeat defit makers” create at the state level.
Time to elliminate all that.
MrLiberty
January 4th, 2013
12:17 pm
These two spineless scum will cave on the debt ceiling just like they have on every other economically-destructive bill passed in recent years. They are both economic morons who care more about the lobbyists who line their pockets than about the economic health of the nation.
We are in the end game of a Federal Reserve-created economic bubble. There is still more pain to go and the sooner we let it happen, the sooner the economy will begin to recover. There are still way too many worthless companies, way too many insolvent banks, way too many overpriced homes, etc. and all of this malinvestment/failure needs to be cleansed from the economy one way or another.
The market is ready to do the cleansing if only the government will get out of the way and stop protecting their friends at the expense of the taxpayers.
Johnny and Saxby both need to go. They are unprincipled traitors to america and the constitutional oaths.
DJ Sniper
January 4th, 2013
12:19 pm
Voter, you have officially lost whatever credibility you may have had once you mentioned the whole “free cell phone” issue.
Aesop, WTF are you talking about? I’m quite sure that statement was made on the day of the shooting, so what exactly is your point?
Retired Soldier
January 4th, 2013
12:19 pm
curious-
A fellow lib called defense spending runaway, not I.
Voter
January 4th, 2013
12:20 pm
@Shine – What a piece of work you are. Cut a Vets benefits? Are you insane?
Someone who served OUR Country? Someone who went where their Government told them to,so you could stay home and write blogs?
You need help, not just a Doctor but a whole team of them. Meds also.
DJ Sniper
January 4th, 2013
12:21 pm
If anybody is a traitor to this country, it’s every GOP nutjob who pledged loyalty to Grover Norquist and not the people who elected them.
Voter
January 4th, 2013
12:22 pm
@DJ Sniper – “Voter, you have officially lost whatever credibility you may have had once you mentioned the whole “free cell phone” issue.”
lol, Why? Did you receive one? lol
td
January 4th, 2013
12:22 pm
Defense spending has gone from $620 billion per year in 2007 to $800 billion in 2012.
Welfare spending has gone from $380 billion per year in 2007 to $800 billion in 2012.
Oh yes, defense spending is totally out of control.
ideas
January 4th, 2013
12:24 pm
Hey Deep Cover. I wish you Libs would read the 14th Amendment before you keep mis-using it as a presidential order. If you read article 5 of the 14th Amendment is states that CONGRESS has the authority to pass laws for this Amendment, not the President by executive order. See what happens if he does issue an executive order. That is when Roberts and the Supreme’s shut him down.
Voter
January 4th, 2013
12:24 pm
@Shine – Also, why don’t you go visit a VA Hospital? I challenge you to.
Shine
January 4th, 2013
12:24 pm
Answerable to the people? The people answered…….
Electoral vote 332 206
Popular vote 65,899,660 60,932,152
Percentage 51.0% 47.2%
Voter
January 4th, 2013
12:27 pm
@td – be careful when you throw around numbers for the liberals, they need time and a calculator to comprehend.
Shine
January 4th, 2013
12:27 pm
You kooks are now saying cant cut vet benefits? wait a minute. yall aint serious about cutting then you socialist libs. Lets cuts medicaid and throw granny out a nursing home though.
Kooks the lot of you are.
Voter
January 4th, 2013
12:28 pm
@Shine – Still harping on the election? Answer me this whose fault is the past 4 years? Bush still?