and welcome to both of you to meet the press. this is where the action is right now n the senate. senator thun, as a republican in here, and someone who has reportedly in play, what has to be in the agreement to get you the yes? well, i think that a couple of things, david. first, no taxes. spending reductions at least equal to the amount of the debt limit would be increased by dollar for dollar and a pathway to getting a result on entitlement the elements that a lot of republicans are going to be looking for. and you heard david plouffe saying that mcconnell is saying no tax increases in the deal, and that is true, but still again another committee looking at making the hard decisions about entitlements and tax reform, and the president, you know, is going to look in that committee for tax increases to be part of that approach. well, i think that there will be some who want to see taxes as part of the approach. i certainly don t, and i don t think that most republicans do, and
for the economy, yes. number two, we want to make sure if there is an enforcement mechanism and again the committee is not charged with doing spending cuts only, the committee is chargeded with looking at the entire deficit reduction problem and looking at things like tax reform and revenue. you want something to compel the committee to act. that was part of the president s approach that he laid out to the country a few mons ago that there is a debt cap to enforce action and you want something to compel both parties to act. because i do think that there is a lot of pressure h lately on the committee to produce something that congress can vote on. but a lot of people watching this have to be wondering, what is going on today? what is the fighting about? so, first stage, you cut government spending over a ten-year period to raise the debt ceiling, and part of that is a second stage, and another committee in washington that looks like really making the hard decisions, and if they are
of broadening the base and lowerering the rates and getting the economy growing again. tax reform can be a useful tool in terms of the economic growth, but tax increases are not certainly on the agenda of any republican in the house or senate. can you vet for whatote for taking shape right now? i don t know, because i don t know the details. i don t like where it is headed because i m not a fan of the joint committee, but it is probably as good of an outcome as we are going to be able to get at this time. and you have been on the phone talking to constituents and you sent out a tweet earlier in day that caught my eye. spent a couple of hours answering the phones in my office and dominant message is don t cut social security or medicare and no compromise. and what this means is that you cut a certain amount up front to raise the debt ceiling and then a second stage of cuts that come, and there is this committee that tries to agree on those cuts, and if you don t do
adviser david plouffe. welcome. thank you. it is overly rosey or that close? h. well, we don t have a deal and as chuck todd just reported on there is a legislative clock and default clock so the hours are ticking. what is clear is that there is a deficit reduction on tuesday, and something that the parties agree about $1 trillion of deficit reduction and the second stage is trickier of the entitlement reform and tax reform which the super committee will be appointed to do. and they have top a point members to the committee to drive to yes and get out of the comfort zone. let me be clear, what is the president going to accept adds a deal? well, first of all, it is clear that the economy is not as strong as any of us would like it to be. this debt ceiling cloud has harmed our economy. why on earth would we want to go through this again in a few short months from fou? so it has to be through 2012?
the speshl committee comes together, comes out for recommendations with more cuts that are on the back end of this deal? that s actually one of the problems i have with the deal. i think it is opening the door for tax increases. i think there should be tax reform and i think every member of the house of republicresenta on the republican side believes there should be tax reform. i think every person should pay the same rate, across the board and fair to all americans. jim cramer, again, are treasury bonds safe as we sit here? absolutely. don t panic anybody on that. still the last resort place to be both for china, who owns they he have the preponderance of our debt and us. don t ever want to take that off the table. full faith and credit of united states will be good during this period. tom, a digital conversation is going on as we reference every week. it is disgust with washington. i know as you travel around the country you hear it. from facebook, eric writes, i think we h