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Video: Bill Kristol Says GOP Shouldn’t “fall on its sword to defend a bunch of millionaires”

By
lowkell
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1

Possibly the first rational thing Bill Kristol’s said in a long while, but it’s good to see this arch conservative coming at least a LITTLE bit to his senses. Now, if he could just talk some sense into the dead-enders at the Club for Growth, the Chamber of Commerce, etc. Also, I’d point out that Kristol’s not conceding much at this point, given that if Congress doesn’t act, all the Bush tax cuts – and other tax cuts as well – will expire at the end of the year, meaning that President Obama and the Democrats basically hold all the “cards” at this point. Plus, Republicans just got walloped big time this past Tuesday. Heck, even John Boehner is telling the GOP that (the NY Times paraphrases) “[t]heir party lost, badly…and while Republicans would still control the House and would continue to staunchly oppose tax rate increases as Congress grapples with the impending fiscal battle, they had to avoid the nasty showdowns that marked so much of the last two years.” So, bottom line: it’s time to cut a deal, aka “compromise,” for the good of the country, and stop acting like “my way or the highway” partisan absolutists for a change. Sort of the way things were for most of this country’s history. Radical concept, huh? 🙂

Virginia News Headlines: Sunday Morning (Veterans Day)

By
lowkell
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6

Here are a few Virginia (and national) news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, November 11 (Veterans Day; thank you to everyone who’s served our country in the armed forces!).

*Obama wins Fla., bringing electoral tally to 332-206

*Biographer’s E-Mails to Woman Led FBI to Petraeus

*Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, said Saturday an F.B.I. employee whom his staff described as a whistle-blower told him about Mr. Petraeus’s affair and a possible security breach in late October, which was after the investigation had begun.

*Korean War not forgotten, especially by those who endured it

*O’Malley’s stock rises, McDonnell’s drops with election (Too bad Martin O’Malley can’t be our governor instead of Pat Robertson’s BFF, “Bobby” McDonnell.)

*Unfazed, Rove’s PAC will carry on (Excellent, PLEASE keep redistributing, aka “wasting,” crazy right-wing billionaires’ money! LOL)

*The Post forgets to be local (They’ve largely abandoned covering Virginia politics, either at the state or local level…)

*Virginians to play key roles in ‘fiscal cliff’ debate

*Warner doing a ‘Hamlet’ routine (“The 2016 campaign is already under way and Warner is always among the mentioned. Moving back to Richmond, said to be one of his wife’s least favorite places, doesn’t move him any closer to the White House. It wouldn’t remove Warner from the national debate. It would consign him to the cheap seats.”)

*Virginia Curse a silver lining for Republicans (“In January 2009, Kaine, then Virginia’s governor, said he regarded Republican McDonnell as the favorite to succeed him, citing the Curse.” We’ll see.)

*Election shows distinct shift in Chesterfield voting habits

*Election results raise city’s Democratic profile

*Editorial: Virginia’s bad health news (“Gov. Bob McDonnell placed a losing bet on Mitt Romney and his empty promise ‘to repeal Obamacare’ if elected president. McDonnell’s loss is Virginia’s. Because of the Republican governor’s foot-dragging, Virginia lost an opportunity to fashion its own program to implement health care reform.”)

*How election affected politics in D.C. region

*Fairfax considers whether Thomas Jefferson High School enrolls the wrong students

*Steven Spielberg reflects on his experiences with Richmond and ‘Lincoln’

*Roanoke reviewing precincts, long lines

*Parade stirs patriotism, memories of service

P.S. By the way, if you want to read one of the stupidest articles on why Republicans lost the election and what they should change, see the insufferably arrogant, lying, science-denying George Will’s laughable A Better GOP. Also, be sure to check out the comments section, as readers pile on and eviscerate this nincompoop (who, by the way, predicted a Romney landslide victory, proving that he has ZERO clue what he’s talking about on any subject).

The GOP’s Troubled Connection with Reality

By
AndySchmooklerforCongress
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0

( – promoted by lowkell)

This week provided an interesting glimpse into the political right’s pathological dishonesty (and Rachel Maddow did an excellent job of calling attention to it). It turns out that the liars are prone to lying to themselves.

Hence the striking footage of Karl Rove, on Fox News, doubting the statisticians’ determination that President Obama had won Ohio. Hence the apparent surprise of the Romneyites that the election went the way the polls said it would, rather than conforming to what they had convinced themselves was the truth of the matter.

This phenomenon connects deeply with the theme of my recent campaign for Congress in Virginia’s 6th District (the most Republican District in the state):  “Truth. For a change.”

To function properly, democracy depends on truth prevailing. And half the American body politic has diverged from any healthy connection with truth.

Wednesday evening, Rachel Maddow gave an outstanding little speech about the problem for America of having our right half living in an alternate reality.

She called our brothers and sisters on the right back to awareness with a litany of things that are true, and should be accepted as such.

Maddow went on to say in clear and vibrant terms how good it would be for America to regain an honest political force on the conservative side of our divide.  That part of her speech can be heard at this link.

This was a beautifully stated version of something I said many times across Virginia’s Sixth District. We need a good conservative party. We need to have a constructive and honest — and genuinely patriotic — political party that is right of center. And we want the Republican Party to move toward being that way.

We want this, and it is entirely appropriate for Rachel Maddow to call out for this, to explain its importance, to summon the deluded to extricate themselves from the cult that the Republican Party has become and to free themselves from the sick and broken spirit that drives that cult and that uses that cult to degrade and destroy as much as it can of all that makes America good and great.

But wanting is one thing; expecting is another. This election was certainly a powerful blow at the right. But so was the Bushite failure in the Iraq war. So was the Bush presidency helping to drive our economy over a precipice. So was the election of 2008.

These blows are important, and the more frequent and harder we make those blows, the sooner we can drive that dark spirit out of the Republican Party and away from the helm of our American civilization.

But this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. It may be the end of the beginning. (Hats off to Churchill, master of the rhetoric of conflict.) We need to encourage President Obama, and the Democrats in the Congress, to press the battle and not squander their opportunities as they have in the past.

.

The fate of the nation depends on it. With the “It’s a Wonderful Life” test, whereby we can compare the the starkly contrasting possible scenarios, the question is will we be Bedford Falls or will we degrade into Pottersville?

With stakes so high, whether we like it or not,  this is a battle that must be fought.

Andy Schmookler, who was the Democratic nominee forr Congress in the 6th Congressional District of Virginia in the elections just held, is an award-winning author, political commentator, radio talk-show host, and teacher. Andy moved with his family to Shenandoah County in 1992.  He is a graduate of Harvard University and holds a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley.  

New Poll: Virginia Voters Strongly Moving to Clean Energy, Away from Coal

By
lowkell
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0

Over at Scaling Green, I posted yesterday about a series of new polls by Public Opinion Strategies which find that “despite the millions of dollars opponents poured into attacks on the [clean energy] industry,” voters in key swing states – including Virginia – “support clean, secure, and affordable energy.” I thought it would be worthwhile to post some of the key graphics over here at Blue Virginia. Note that Virginians, by an enormous 51-point margin, support using cleaner sources of energy instead of coal. In addition, large majorities of Virginian voters would be more favorably inclined towards a candidate who advocates shifting to clean energy, supports using public money to fund investment in clean energy sources, and favors requiring utilities to generate a greater share of their electricity from wind and solar than from the same ol’ same ol’ (in Virginia’s case, coal).

Not that the Bob McDonnells and Ken Kookinellis of the world would ever place what Virginia voters want ahead of what their big donors from the fossil fuel industry want, but in 2013, we’ll have an opportunity to replace these dirty energy tools. I urge Democrats to make this an issue in next year’s campaigns…

posvirginia1112

posvirginia1112a

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posvirginia1112c

Stephen DeMaura

By
BatCave
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0

California had a plethora of propositions on their ballot this fall  Two in particular, Proposition 30 and Proposition 32, attracted the most attention, in terms of media coverage and money.

Proposition 30 was sponsored by Governor Jerry Brown, to extend several taxes for an additional 6 to 7 years to finance public education, which has been on the receiving end of devastating cuts the last several years:

http://youtu.be/RtO1xsnWsw4  

Proposition 32 was disguised by big oil and Wall Street as campaign finance reform but was actually an anti-union effort to ban payroll deductions in  the state:

http://youtu.be/u0I3iWhEvMU

Prop 30 was approved by voters by a comfortable margin – see map here:  http://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns…

Prop 32 was defeated by voters by a comfortable margin as well – see map here: http://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns…  

But the big news regarding these two propositions is really about Stephen DeMaura, President of Americans for Job Security, based in Alexandria, Virginia and former head of the Republican Party of New Hampshire.

First, some background:

On October 15, 2012, a nonprofit in Arizona called Americans for Responsible Leadership made a $11 million donation to a committee in California dedicated to defeating Prop 30 and passing Prop 32, but didn’t disclose where that money came from. The lack of disclosure violated a brand new rule in California mandating that even 501(c) nonprofits disclose the source of their donations.

On October 18, 2012, Common Cause filed a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission asking for an inquiry. The commission, a state campaign finance regulator that puts the Federal Election Commission to shame with its aggressive pursuit of the public interest, took up the case and on October 25, 2012, advised Americans for Responsible Leadership that it had 25 hours to comply with a request for information about the source of that $11 million check.

Americans for Responsible Leadership then hired Holtzman Vogel, a DC-area law firm retained for years by Karl Rove and other Republican leaders, to try to quash the FPPC’s requests, claiming at one point to a local judge that the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision protected the group from having to disclose its donors. As the Sacramento judge accurately observed, the Citizens United decision did no such thing.  An appellate judge ruled last week and agreed with the Arizona group in preventing the FPPC from action, which then forced a last minute appeal that led to an emergency decision by the California Supreme Court, ruling 7-0 last Sunday to force disclosure.

Forced by the California State Supreme Court to disclose the source of the $11 million dollars,  Americans for Responsible Leadership stated they received the $11 million from Americans for Job Security, based in Alexandria, Virginia. Americans for Job Security, founded by two Republican operatives who now handle media-buys for Karl Rove’s American Crossroads Super PAC, is just another coin-operated front group. In the past, corporations have given it large sums in exchange for negative advertising in campaigns and lobbying efforts.  

In a letter to regulators, Americans for Responsible Leadership conceded that Americans for Job Security in turn received the $11 million from yet another nonprofit group, called Center to Protect Patients’ Rights.

The FPPC’s chair, Ann Ravel, says the trail of dummy nonprofits is a clear sign that the Arizona nonprofit behind the $11 million donation was engaged in “campaign money laundering.” It’s obvious to anyone that Americans for Responsible Leadership is still playing shell games. The two nonprofits it disclosed do not give any real information about the individuals or corporations that provided the money for the $11 million check.

The scandal may quickly evolve into a criminal investigation that could rock the foundations of Capitol Hill.  It’s all up to Kamala Harris, California’s attorney general, who was elected two years ago on a platform of getting tough on white-collar crime. Her office told reporters that she is laying out the options for either a criminal or civil investigation into this major secret money group.

http://www.thenation.com/blog/…

Stephen DeMaura, head of Americans for Job Security, reported in their FEC quarterly filing with the FEC dated October 11, 2012, that their independent expenditures totalled $8,878,339.02.

http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-…

Based on the reports filed with the FEC, I couldn’t find any other quarterly reports filed by Stephen DeMaura on behalf of Americans for Job Security in 2012:

http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-…

But I did find this:

http://reporting.sunlightfound…

So, there is no reporting of the $11 million dollar expenditure to the FEC, which begs the question, were they required to do so?  But I guess the $11 million dollar contribution could have been made after October 11, 2012 so it wouldn’t be reported until their next quarterly report, if they were required to file another one.  

The New York Times performed an extensive investigation into the activities of Americans for Job Security in Alaska in 2010:

Alaskans grew suspicious two years ago when a national organization called Americans for Job Security showed up and spent $1.6 million pushing a referendum to restrict development of a gold and copper mine at the headwaters of Bristol Bay.  

Americans for Job Security has deep connections to the Republican Party:

The group’s Republican connections begin with location: While its public address is a drop box at a United Parcel Service store in Alexandria, Va., Mr. DeMaura actually works out of space that is sublet from a Republican consulting shop, Crossroads Media, whose other clients include the national Republican Party, the Republican Governors Association and American Crossroads, a Karl Rove  -backed group raising millions to support Republican candidates.

Crossroads Media is run by Michael Dubke and David Carney, who along with several business groups helped start Americans for Job Security in 1997. Mr. Carney had been political director for President George Bush, and Mr. Dubke was the first executive director and then president of Americans for Job Security until April 2008, when Mr. DeMaura, recruited by Mr. Carney, took over.

Americans for Job Security has also had additional charges filed against them with the IRS and FEC:

Other aspects of the group’s operations have come under scrutiny as well. In 2007, Public Citizen filed complaints with the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Election Commission, contending that Americans for Job Security spent the vast majority of its resources electioneering – running ads close to elections – contrary to I.R.S. guidelines for tax-exempt, nonprofit business groups.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09…

The Center for Public Integrity also did an investigation into Americans for Job Security regarding their activities in the Colorado Senate race in 2010:

Among Carney’s critics is Charlie Black, star GOP lobbyist and strategist. Black met with Carney in late 2009 after Black’s sister-in-law, Jane Norton, announced she was going to seek the Republican Party’s nomination to run for the Colorado Senate seat now held by Democrat Michael Bennet.

Black, who was also an adviser to Norton’s campaign, told the Center for Public Integrity that Carney and Stephen DeMaura, president of Americans for Job Security, came to chat with him one day in autumn 2009 at his lobbying firm, Prime Policy Group, in Washington. Carney “suggested in a meeting with me that if any long-time donors in Colorado wanted to give Americans for Job Security large contributions that they would know what to do with it,” Black recalled.

“If my sister-in-law wanted to send large donors from Colorado their way, the implication was that they would use the money to benefit her candidacy,” Black said.

Carney’s message “sounded like it would be pushing the envelope on the rules against coordination,” Black said, referring to Federal Election Commission rules barring candidates’ campaigns from working with outside groups that spend money to support them.

Neither Carney nor DeMaura returned multiple calls seeking comment.

Nothing ever came of the meeting, Black says. But, this spring and summer, Americans for Job Security ran hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of ads in a drive that helped to sink Norton and make her opponent, Ken Buck, the party’s Senate nominee.

Complaint filed with FEC

Americans for Job Security ultimately spent $976,000 on Colorado ads to help Buck in the primary, according to Public Citizen. The group’s name also surfaced in a May complaint   filed by a Norton supporter with the Federal Election Commission  . In the complaint, Charles Grice, a former Colorado state official, accused Buck’s campaign of coordinating with wealthy Colorado businessman Jerry Morgensen, who allegedly pledged at least $1 million to finance independent expenditure ads by Americans for Job Security and two other smaller groups.

In late summer, Grice announced he wanted to withdraw his complaint, saying he preferred Buck to the Democratic incumbent. Asked by the Center about FEC procedures for withdrawing complaints, an FEC press staffer said that “there’s no provision in our regulations for withdrawing a complaint once it has been filed.” Sources familiar with the complaint say it is almost certainly still pending.

http://www.publicintegrity.org…

Let all hope California Attorney General Harris can nail this group once and for all.

Idiot Closes Store to Mourn Obama’s Victory

By
Dan Sullivan
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1

PhotobucketThat’s not a judgment; just the search I used to find the story after I watched a report on a local television station. Part of the post-election theme which includes: “Welcome to Jimmy Carter’s second term” and laying off employees with Obama bumper stickers. Yes, Virginia, these conservatives hate America.

I hope the guy in Bedford who closed his jewelry store and posted signs in the windows understands the concept of an archive that will be permanently fixed to his genealogical record. And I know the other jewelers in town had no objection to his exercise of free speech and disassembly. Plus it is clear he doesn’t like America because it is not the America he imagines our forefathers envisioned.

The message that Obama’s reelection would hail the second term of Jimmy Carter never resonated, but Neal Boortz is counting on it carrying sales of his next book. He was wailing away while waving that flag the other day. Unfortunately Neal and his followers never understood that Carter’s second term probably would have been similar to Reagan’s economically, including all the deficit spending but without the breaks for the rich. In fact, I have always argued that if Alfred Newman had succeeded in 1980, economic recovery was already on the way by the time the eight years of Republican malfeasance that preceded Carter had been abated by sounder Democratic policy. Reagan was a right time and place guy and that is about all, except for some amount of personal warmth that Carter couldn’t generate even wearing those stupid Mr. Rogers sweaters.

And you couldn’t avoid a gag reflex from the anecdotal stories on the other right wing shows that had employers calling in employees the day after the election and letting them go because they had to get under the threshold of 50. Of course, they snickered about the “coincidence” that these same employees were the ones that had Obama stickers on their cars and needed a “lesson” for their support.

That really sums it up: These conservatives hate America and want to punish those of us who love and understand her. They want to invalidate the very thing that makes America strong. They would rather America fail than for it not to conform to their image, which is clearly one of intolerance and intractability.  

Yes, but….

By
tjbv.1
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1

How is it possible that Obama can win VA, but Virginia’s electorate couldn’t throw out its 8 most worthless Congressional representatives?

What’s the deal with Cantor’s success? How does he do it? He’s a human lizard without a shred of conscience, without charm or even humor, yet he just keeps on running…and winning! He didn’t even break a sweat this year. If he said, “I didn’t know we had elections this year,” I wouldn’t be any more surprised. What gives, Virginians? Eric Cantor?!

Does anybody in the 9th know how Griffith can keep cinching it after first defeating Boucher, who was an angel of mercy to this area, and now the inestimable Flaccovento, who actually is a human being with an active moral compass and a knowledge of his constituents’ needs? How did Griffith, who has the charm of a spork and an intelligence to match, grow triumphant again?

Yeah, I’m elated about Obama/Kaine, but that fervor is not matched by the Commonwealth’s pretty tawdry results. It seems that a vote for Obama means two votes for Cantor, Goodlatte, Griffith, et al.

How?!?

Genuinely puzzled,

Tom

Virginia News Headlines: Saturday Morning

By
lowkell
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0

Here are a few Virginia (and national) news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, November 10. Also check out President Obama’s weekly address, in which he argues it’s time for Congress to pass the middle class tax cuts for 98% of all Americans.

*CIA Director Petraeus resigns, admits extra-marital affair

*Obama calls on Congress to freeze middle-class tax rates immediately

*Putting guns on trial (“The NRA is less powerful than politicians think.”)

*The Republican blame game (“The GOP passes through the five stages of grief.”)

*Maraniss: Obama’s pursuit of greatness

*Cuccinelli drops pension-fraud claim (“Attorney general reaches deal with BNY Mellon; Va. must pay group of whistleblowers $1 million.”)

*U-Va. extends president’s contract (Now they just need to ditch Helen Dragas…)

*Virginia Curse a silver lining for Republicans (“After presidential election state usually picks governor of other party.” Of course, we also heard about the “Redskins curse” before Tuesday, and we see how that worked out. Not to mention that supposedly no president had “ever been reelected with unemployment at 7.9%” or whatever. Blah blah blah.)

*What we learned from election 2012

*Where did Democratic support drop the most? In the coalfields (These guys think they’re voting for their own economic self interest, but they’re actually doing the exact opposite.)

U.S. gives states a break on health care reform deadline

*A Bypass Built for Trucks… that Trucks Won’t Use

*The attack ad that never came in Virginia’s Senate race (“Neither Allen’s campaign nor any of the independent groups that poured millions of dollars into the Senate race made an issue of Jens Soering, the German national convicted of murdering his girlfriend’s parents in Bedford County in 1985.”)

*Goode’s third-party bid finishes fourth – and fifth

*Dominion’s bucket brigade sends rescue to New York, New Jersey (Appropriate, since it’s emissions from THEIR coal-fired power planets that are contributing to global warming which fuels/worsens storms like Sandy…)

*Doubling down on a terrible bet

*Grants aim to connect veterans with jobs

*Mary Gavin takes over Falls Church police, second female chief in NoVa (Congratulations!)

*With sellout crowd on hand, George Mason outlasts Virginia 63-59

LCDC Chair Evan Macbeth Praises Theo Stamos Appointment, Questions Loudoun County Board Actions

By
lowkell
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0

Good news from the Loudoun County Democratic Committee, announcing that superb Arlington Commonwealth Attorney Theo Stamos is now on the case of (possibly) corrupt hatemonger, Loudoun County board member Eugene Delgaudio. I just say, I am very much looking forward to this investigation. Go Theo!

Loudoun County Democratic Committee Chair Evan Macbeth issued the following statement in response to news that Arlington County Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stamos has been appointed by the Loudoun Circuit Court as a Special Prosecutor to investigate allegations of misuse of office by Sterling Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio:

“While I am heartened to learn that Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stamos has been appointed to investigate the serious allegations against Supervisor Delgaudio, I question why the County did not previously give all the evidence in this case to Ms. Stamos. During her earlier informal review of these allegations in the Spring, Ms. Stamos indicated that any supporting evidence would significantly change her assessment of the case. Yet when Chairman York received a significant amount of supporting documentary evidence from Ms. Mateer, he failed to provide that evidence to Mr. Roberts, Mr. Plowman or Ms. Stamos.

The ways in which Chairman York and the Board of Supervisors have mishandled the allegations against Mr. Delgaudio are deeply troubling. Since the allegations were made public, the Loudoun County Democratic Committee has repeatedly called on the Board of Supervisors to launch a transparent and independent investigation of Mr. Delgaudio’s actions. The Board’s recent decisions to commit minimal resources to the investigation, and to hire an investigator with significant ties to local Republicans — a move that even Mr. Delgaudio himself objected to — raises serious questions as to whether this Board truly holds itself to a standard of accountability, transparency and ethical conduct that the citizens of Loudoun expect.

Now that Ms. Stamos is on the case, the people of Loudoun County can hope that we will learn the truth about Mr. Delgaudio’s actions and about whether or not Chairman York and this Board acted to conceal illegal activities from the public.

Additionally, the Loudoun County Democratic Committee does not believe that the Board should suspend its own administrative review as to whether any county policies were violated.”

Video: President Obama Discusses Growing the Economy and Reducing the Deficit

By
lowkell
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1



A full transcript of President Obama’s remarks is on the “flip.” The bottom line? We need to pay down the deficit in a balanced way; “we can’t just cut our way to prosperity;” we should lock in middle class tax cuts now; those making more than $250,000 per year need to pay more. In other words, we’re talking about everything we just had an election about, and what the majority of Americans voted for…

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT

East Room

1:08 P.M. EST

    THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you so much.

(Applause.)  Thank you very much, everybody.  Everybody, please have a seat.  (Applause.)

Well, good afternoon, everybody.  Now that those of us on the campaign trail have had a chance to get a little sleep — (laughter) — it’s time to get back to work.  And there is plenty of work to do.

As I said on Tuesday night, the American people voted for action, not politics as usual.  You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours.  And in that spirit, I’ve invited leaders of both parties to the White House next week, so we can start to build consensus around the challenges that we can only solve together. And I also intend to bring in business and labor and civic leaders from all across the country here to Washington to get their ideas and input as well.    

At a time when our economy is still recovering from the Great Recession, our top priority has to be jobs and growth.  That’s the focus of the plan I talked about during the campaign. (Applause.)  It’s a plan to reward small businesses and manufacturers that create jobs here, not overseas.  It’s a plan to give people the chance to get the education and training that businesses are looking for right now.  It’s a plan to make sure this country is a global leader in research and technology and clean energy, which will attract new companies and high-wage jobs to America.  It’s a plan to put folks back to work, including our veterans, rebuilding our roads and our bridges, and other infrastructure.  And it’s a plan to reduce our deficit in a balanced and responsible way.

Our work is made that much more urgent because at the end of this year, we face a series of deadlines that require us to make major decisions about how to pay our deficit down — decisions that will have a huge impact on the economy and the middle class, both now and in the future.  Last year, I worked with Democrats and Republicans to cut a trillion dollars’ worth of spending that we just couldn’t afford.  I intend to work with both parties to do more — and that includes making reforms that will bring down the cost of health care so we can strengthen programs like Medicaid and Medicare for the long haul.

But as I’ve said before, we can’t just cut our way to prosperity.  If we’re serious about reducing the deficit, we have to combine spending cuts with revenue — and that means asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more in taxes.  (Applause.)  That’s how we did it in the 1990s, when Bill Clinton was President.  That’s how we can reduce the deficit while still making the investments we need to build a strong middle class and a strong economy.  That’s the only way we can still afford to train our workers, or help our kids pay for college, or make sure that good jobs in clean energy or high-tech manufacturing don’t end up in countries like China.

Now, already, I’ve put forward a detailed plan that allows us to make these investments while reducing our deficit by $4 trillion over the next decade.  I want to be clear — I’m not wedded to every detail of my plan.  I’m open to compromise.  I’m open to new ideas.  I’m committed to solving our fiscal challenges.  But I refuse to accept any approach that isn’t balanced.  I am not going to ask students and seniors and middle-class families to pay down the entire deficit while people like me, making over $250,000, aren’t asked to pay a dime more in taxes.  I’m not going to do that.  (Applause.)

And I just want to point out this was a central question during the election.  It was debated over and over again.  And on Tuesday night, we found out that the majority of Americans agree with my approach — and that includes Democrats, independents, and a lot of Republicans across the country, as well as independent economists and budget experts.  That’s how you reduce the deficit — with a balanced approach.  

So our job now is to get a majority in Congress to reflect the will of the American people.  And I believe we can get that majority.  I was encouraged to hear Speaker Boehner agree that tax revenue has to be part of this equation — so I look forward to hearing his ideas when I see him next week.

And let me make one final point that every American needs to hear.  Right now, if Congress fails to come to an agreement on an overall deficit reduction package by the end of the year, everybody’s taxes will automatically go up on January 1st —  everybody’s — including the 98 percent of Americans who make less than $250,000 a year.  And that makes no sense.  It would be bad for the economy and would hit families that are already struggling to make ends meet.

Now, fortunately, we shouldn’t need long negotiations or drama to solve that part of the problem.  While there may be disagreement in Congress over whether or not to raise taxes on folks making over $250,000 a year, nobody — not Republicans, not Democrats — want taxes to go up for folks making under $250,000 a year.  So let’s not wait.  Even as we’re negotiating a broader deficit reduction package, let’s extend the middle-class tax cuts right now.  Let’s do that right now.  (Applause.)

That one step — that one step — would give millions of families — 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses — the certainty that they need going into the new year.  It would immediately take a huge chunk of the economic uncertainty off the table, and that will lead to new jobs and faster growth.  Business will know that consumers, they’re not going to see a big tax increase.  They’ll know that most small businesses won’t see a tax increase.  And so a lot of the uncertainty that you’re reading about, that will be removed.

In fact, the Senate has already passed a bill doing exactly this, so all we need is action from the House.  And I’ve got the pen ready to sign the bill right away.  I’m ready to do it.  (Applause.)  I’m ready to do it.  (Applause.)      

The American people understand that we’re going to have differences and disagreements in the months to come.  They get that.  But on Tuesday, they said loud and clear that they won’t tolerate dysfunction.  They won’t tolerate politicians who view compromise as a dirty word.  Not when so many Americans are still out of work.  Not when so many families and small business owners are still struggling to pay the bills.

What the American people are looking for is cooperation.  They’re looking for consensus.  They’re looking for common sense. Most of all, they want action.  I intend to deliver for them in my second term, and I expect to find willing partners in both parties to make that happen.  So let’s get to work.

Thank you very much, everybody.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

                  END            1:15 P.M. EST

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