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Few Details
Emerge From First Meeting
President Obama emerged from his first post-election
meeting with congressional leaders from both parties moments ago,
declaring that the meeting was the "beginning of a new dialogue"
and that both parties got the public's election day message of
cooperation over gridlock.
Initially planned for two weeks ago, the highly publicized meeting
between Obama and Republicans was to be a full day event.
Republicans complained that they had not been consulted in the
event's planning and thus the event was delayed. Not only was
it delayed, but it was also cut to just over an hour -- hardly giving
either side any real time to work through the complex and
controversial issues on the agenda, including extension of the Bush
tax cuts, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), the Deficit
Reduction Commission's preliminary recommendations, extension of
unemployment benefits and congressional repeal of the military's
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
Obama made sure to indicate that the meeting is just the first step
in a long discussion on important issues between the two parties that
will share power beginning next year.
Nevertheless, the focus of the meeting was on the short-term lame duck
session of Congress, in which Democrats still hold wide majorities in
both chambers.
The top issue emerging from today's talks are the extension of the
2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, which expire on December 31. Obama
noted that both parties want to prevent middle class tax rates from
increasing next year, but expressed Democrats' concern with the
additional $700 billion in debt that would come with the permanent
extension of all tax cuts that Republicans are seeking.
Obama announced that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner
and recently-confirmed Office of Management and Budget Director Jacob
Lew will work with specially-appointed Members of Congress during the
lame duck session to find common ground on the extensions. It's
expected that the main focus of the extensions will be individual
W-2s; however, the President identified two other cuts that he
wants to extend: breaks for college tuition and cuts for businesses
that hire unemployed workers.
Obama's lame duck priority list is as follows:
1.
Tax cut extensions
2.
START ratification
3.
Unemployment benefits extension
4.
Repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell
If you have any questions concerning
these issues, please contact Chris Wagner at 202.772.0924 or cwagner@clarkhill.com.
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