| Campaigns Exchange Barbs Over CBO Report |
| Aug-22-2012 |
| Keywords: cbo, fiscal cliff, gdp, unemployment, bleak, obama, romney, carney |
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Wednesday warned the economy will enter a recession next year if the country goes over the so-called fiscal cliff.
Democrats and Republican both found elements in the CBO's findings to pin on the other side.
Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg put the responsibility of the pending financial slowdown squarely on the shoulders of President Obama, saying the CBO report was, "another indictment of President Obama's economic policies that have resulted in overspending, increasing debt, and a growing financial burden on the next generation."
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney wrote that Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, had "chosen to double down on the same failed policies that led to the economic crisis in the first place."
After the CBO report was released, Republicans quickly pointed back at the White House, arguing they had taken action that the president has thus far ignored.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) put the onus on Democrats to act on the fiscal cliff. He noted that the House has passed bills replacing the automatic cuts with tailored cuts to mandatory spending such as on food stamps, and extending the Bush-era tax rates.
"Instead of threatening to drive us off the fiscal cliff and tank our economy in their quest for higher taxes, I would urge President Obama and congressional Democrats to work with us to stop the coming tax hike that threatens our economy and replace the looming defense cuts with common sense reforms," Boehner said.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor took things a little further, noting that the president has run up his fourth consecutive trillion dollar deficit.
"With four years of trillion dollar deficits and an economy threatened by the President's failed policies, Americans deserve real leadership that will create jobs, responsibly reduce our massive debt and return economic growth and prosperity," Cantor wrote. |
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Posted by Lou Dobbs Staff at 9:00 PM Email to a friend |
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