Local Politician Weighs In On Debt Ceiling Compromise
WASHINGTON, D.C. (KDKA) - The debt ceiling crisis is over. The Senate passed a bill of compromise that the House approved last night and President Barrack Obama has signed it.
Following final action on the debt ceiling compromise, President Obama was hardly complimentary, saying Congress had manufactured this crisis to avoid the real issues.
"While Washington has been absorbed in this debate about deficits, people across the country have been asking, what can we do to help the father looking for work? What are we going to do about the single mom who's seen her hours cut back at the hospital? What are we going to do to make it easier for businesses?" Obama said.
At a House Democratic caucus meeting with Vice President Joe Biden, Congressman Mike Doyle accused Tea Party Republicans of using the debt ceiling to hold the economy hostage like terrorists.
"I obviously wasn't trying to call members of the Tea Party terrorists," Doyle said. "I was just giving an analogy that it was like negotiating with a hostage taker. We don't do that. You don't negotiate with people that use tactics like that. I was trying to impress the administration not to go forward with this one-sided deal."
Doyle accused Democratic leaders of letting the Tea Party dictate terms and he voted no, saying the compromise was not balanced and insulted many Americans.
"They want hedge fund managers that are making billions of dollars and only paying 15 percent tax to pay the same tax their secretaries pay. They want oil companies who are making record profits to start to help us out, too. Why do they need a subsidy from the federal government?" Doyle said.
President Obama said he's not forsaken that approach.
"Everyone is going to have to chip in. It's only fair. That's the principle I'll be fighting for during the next phase of this process," Obama said.
That next phase comes before Thanksgiving as a special bipartisan committee of Congress tries to find agreement on tax reforms and spending cuts.
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