Obama: "Ambitious" Debt-Deficit Deal Must Have Tax Increases, Spending Cuts

President Barack Obama said that he wants to reach with Congress an "ambitious" deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling by the end of tomorrow and claimed that "the American people are sold" on a middle-of-the-road balanced deal that include taxes to provide revenue and spending cuts.

In his third press conference in two weeks, the president said the federal government has a major chance to improve its finances. He also cited news media polls to claim that a majority of Democratic and Republican voters approve of a deal that will both cut federal spending and increase taxes for all Americans.

"We have a unique opportunity to do something big. We have a chance to stabilize America's finances for a decade, or 15 years or 20 years if we're willing to seize the moment," Obama said. "What that would require is a shared sacrifice and a balanced approach that says we're going make significant cuts in domestic spending."

He asked Republican opponents to allow for tax increases, so that millionaires' tax cuts could be eliminated, the tax code could be reformed and unnecessary federal programs could be cut.

Obama said he would consider domestic cuts in defense and health care, as well as stabilizing Medicare and additional revenues.

Meanwhile, after five days of discussions on the debt between the president and congressional leaders have not produced any debt solutions, Senate leaders may soon agree on a plan.

This back-up plan being considered would give Obama the authority to raise the debt ceiling, while procedures would be established to implement spending cuts.

Republican leaders in the House of Representatives give another alternative this morning, saying they planned to vote next week on a plan to increase the debt ceiling in exchange for $2.4 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years.

However, House Speaker John Boehner continued to pledge that any plan with tax increases will not pass the Republican-controlled chamber.

His comments came as another credit rating agency puts the United States on notice.

Standard & Poor's says there is a 50 percent chance it will downgrade the U.S. government's credit rating within three months because of the congressional impasse over the debt ceiling.

That comes a day after Moody's said it would review the government's AAA bond rating.

The United States risks defaulting on its loans on August 2, which the Obama administration claims would lead to inflated interest rates and a worsened economy.

Read more »

While Bronx Politicians Squabble...Unemployment Continues To Go Up

As the dust was settling from last Tuesdays Democratic primary that saw Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada defeated by professional political staffer Gustavo Rivera, and Assemblyman Nelson Castro succeeding against the desires of County Leader Carl Heastie; the Department of Labor released it's unemployment figures for New York State.

As expected Bronx unemployment continues to go up, and the Bronx remains the County with the highest unemployment in the State. For the third strait month unemployment here continues to raise as it drops in other parts of the City, State and Nation.  One can only hope that the end of the Primary elections will allow Bronx Democrats to come together and formulate a unified strategy for bringing jobs to Bronx residents.

According to data provided by the NYS Department of Labor (DOL) nearly half a million Bronxites are without work. Advocates of the unemployed believe that the actual number is higher if you factor in those who are not claiming benefits.

The DOL calculates unemployment rates roughly by counting  the total number of people claiming unemployment benefits against those who are employed. The problem with this formula is that it leaves uncounted the hundreds of thousand who are not eligible for benefits either because they previously worked in the underground economy (ie. off the books) or their benefits have run out.

It would appear the we have all grown so accustomed to high unemployment in the Bronx that no one is speaking loudly about this devastating problem. It is not a topic spoken off in political campaigns, news papers and blogger are incredibly silent on the issue,  as are; ironically both business leaders and community activist.

• We here call on all elements of the Bronx Community to speak loundly and inteligently on this topic...
• We call on Newspapers and Blogs to raise the issue on every occasion -- if a tree falls in the woods and nobody hears it....
• We call on the business community to look at the Bronx as firtle ground for development and job growth. The Bronx is the home to a semi skill, SKILLED, highly skilled and professional work force. Treat us fairly and we will all grow together...
• We call on elected officials to stop the political Squabbling and use their collective power to bring in recourse from all regions of power...

On paper the Bronx is a legislative power house unlike any other county in the state. For starters all elected official in this county are Democrats. This should give Bronx legislators unanimity of purpose and action. Additionally the Bronx holds a unprecedented number of leadership post in the City Council and State legislature (see list of Bronx leadership in state and local legislators), as well as unique relationships with the White House and in the United States Congress.

The end of the primary political season should provide a unique opportunity for Bronx elected officials to come together around one issue that they can all surely agree on. Although probably losing the Majority Leadership with Pedro Espada's defeat to Gustavo Rivera, we believe that Rivera's addition to the Bronx delegation should strengthen the Boroughs claim to funds and resources. Additionally the election of Adriano Espiallat to the Senate increases the power of the Latino Caucus lead by Senator Ruben Diaz Sr.

Finally County Leader Carl Heastie should end his war against Nelson Castro & the older Riveras (Peter & Jose... CUANTO'S POLITICOS RIVER HAY EN EL BRONX?????). Although he lost his all out effort to remove Castro and destabilize the Rivera's he he will surely remain the county leader. If he can lick his wounds and bring the Bronx Assembly delegation together, he will be able to become a significant power broker in the assembly and provide an effective counterweight to the Assembly leaders from Manhattan Speaker Silver and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Denny Farrell Jr.

In doing so these leaders will raise each other up; as it has not been done in the Bronx for decades. Most importantly they will also start to bring back to the Bronx much needed results. There are to ways to achieve unity. The first is to eliminate the opposition, the second is to come together share recourses and work on common goals. Bronx political leaders have been trying the first for years. Shouldn't they give peace a chance?

Read more »