decisions. i want to hear from the president again and who he blames for this. first, harry reid, though, made it clear that issue was not up for discussion. i was really gratified to hear republicans had taken their demand for social security benefit cuts off the table. the truth is they should have never been on the table to begin with. so here s the politics of it now. coming up, president obama also hinted in that interview that republicans were to blame for the current fiscal cliff standoff. take a listen. congress has not been able to get this stuff done, not because democrats in congress don t want to go ahead and cooperate, but because i think it s been very hard for speaker boehner and republican leader mcconnell to accept the fact that taxes on the wealthiest americans should go up a little bit as part of an overall deficit reduction package. how accountable are you for the fact that washington can t get anything done and that we are at this deadline again? i have
hard for speaker boehner and republican leader mcconnell to accept the fact that taxes on the wealthiest americans should go up a little bit and as part of an overall deficit reduction package. i m joined by congresswoman barbara lee a democrat from california. good to see you. good morning. good to see you. glad to be with you. let me give you the republican perspective. it is that some indications they are willing to give on taxes whether 400 or 450,000, that yesterday they floated this idea of changing social security. they ve backed off on that. they apparently are willing to give on some of these estate taxes. the democrats are willing to give on some of the estate taxes. but what the republicans want is they say that this deal that s being offered looks like it actually puts us further in the hole. it s actually costing us more than it s saving us. tell us what your take is on where we are right now. well, first let me just say it s a shame and disgrace that we are where
on taxes and spending cuts. and i think we re just seeing more illustrations of that with each passing hour. both sides are sparring over who is to blame. they are all blaming each other. president obama was a guest on meet the press. let s listen. 75% of the congressmen come from gerrymandered districts in which they are bullet proof. they don t go home and have to prove their case because they have a choir back home. i think it has been very hard for speaker boehner and republican leading mcconnell to accept the fact that taxes on the wealthiest americans should go up a little bit as part of an overall deficit reduction package. in a statement house speaker john boehner shot back writing americans electedt president obama to lead, not to cast blame. the president s comments today
well. half of those cuts are in defense alone. well, the other part of the fiscal cliff is congress agreed that they would cut an additional $1.2 trillion in spending. they put a committee together to try to come up with those numbers. they didn t figure out how to do it. and so what we now have is a situation where these automatic spending cuts go into place. now if we have raised some revenue by the wealthy paying a little bit more, that would be sufficient to turn off what s called the sequester. these automatic spending cuts. and that also would have a better outcome for our economy long term. but, you know, so far at least, congress has not been able to get this stuff done. not because democrats in congress don t want to go ahead and cooperate, but because i think it s been very hard for speaker boehner and republican leader mcconnell to accept the fact that taxes on the wealthiest americans should go up a little bit as part of an overall deficit reduction package. when you ta
to become a problem. in a sane political world, here s what we would be doing right now. we have high unemployment and we can borrow for nothing, less than nothing once you account for inflation. we d be putting people back to work, rebuilding infrastructure, cutting taxes for businesses that hire people. cutting taxes for middle class people generally, and investing in the future of the country. the future of our infrastructure and jobs. meanwhile, we d agree to a deficit reduction package that would trigger the moment unemployment fell below 6.5%. instead we re not going to do enough deficit reduction from later and we ll hang for recovery along the way. by that, i mean terrible job. it s impossible to overstate how dumb this whole thing is. which leads us to number five, the fifth and final thing to remember this week as we approach the edge. the thing you really need to fear, the thing that keeps me