The United States government was recently given the gift of borrowed time to deal with the spending deficit, which led to the hitting of the debt ceiling, the legal borrowing limit of the American government, a few weeks ago. Congress was given until August to make the proper alterations to reduce spending and make the necessary changes to decrease the national debt and the national deficit.

As anyone who has followed politics could expect, Republicans and Democrats are struggling to come to a compromise on where to make the needed spending cuts to fix the problems facing the nation.

President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats wants to change the way entitlement programs work. Republicans want to change Medicare completely. Other vital issues include, but are not limited to, taxes, Social Security reform, and Medicaid reform.

Wednesday, Obama spoke with Republicans in the House of Representatives about increasing the debt ceiling. However, Obama did not offer any plans to cut spending or change programs to save money in the future. As a result, the sides, which are coming at each other from completely different spectrums, were not able to come to an agreement and Obama’s request to raise the debt ceiling was turned down by the House Republicans.

The need to raise the debt ceiling is crucial for the White House. Officials are not allowed to borrow any more money without specific authorization from Congress. As a result, in times of desperate need for money, the White House cannot simply borrow the necessary money, but instead officials now have to knock on Congress’ door first and ask for permission.

The biggest problem with the negotiations is that neither side is willing to compromise too much on many issues. Reports coming out of the meeting rooms say that there is a solid amount of progress being made as Republicans and Democrats continue to meet. However, the progress is coming too slow and not at a level high enough for the growing problems to be taken care of.

It is hard to predict exactly what type of effect a borrowing freeze would have on the American economy and the standard of living for American citizens. It is unquestionable that the ultimate goal of all members of Congress and the American government is to come to a final agreement so that we would never have to know what would happen with a borrowing freeze.

In the United States it was expected that there would be a big disagreement over the budget for fiscal year 2012. The budget for fiscal year 2011 was not agreed upon until nearly halfway through the year. Republicans and Democrats are completely split on numerous issues from what to spend money on to what to cut money from. And Wednesday it became evident that there is no solution coming any time soon.

When presented in front of the United States Senate, the initial proposal by President Barack Obama for the budget for fiscal year 2012 was shot down.

The version of the budget presented before the House of Representatives had a harsh reform of Medicare that was approved by the Republican dominated chamber of Congress. It was easily predicted that Senate Democrats would shoot down the measure.

Republicans in the Senate did vote for the measure to pass, which is expected to rub numerous Americans who are in Medicare the wrong way.

However, the final vote in the Democrat dominated Senate was 57-40. Republicans Scott Brown, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Olympia Snowe, and Susan Collins voted with Democrats to shoot down the proposed budget. Republicans Kay Bailey Hutchison and Pat Roberts, as well as Democrat Chuck Schumer, did not take part in the vote on Wednesday.

For the proposal for Obama’s fiscal year 2012 budget, the vote was 97-0 against it. There is a call for more cuts to fight off the debt and deficit even more than is currently being done.

Other Medicare and Medicaid related measures were brought to the Senate floor for a vote. The measure was shot down just like the other ones presented earlier in the day.

The conflicts over the economy between the Republicans and the Democrats are strong. Democrats are willing to make the necessary cuts to better the American economy and to fend off the national debt and deficit. However, there are programs like Medicare and Medicaid that Democrats are not willing to completely overhaul in the ways that Republicans are demanding that would essentially kill the programs.

The debate over how to go about resurrecting the American economy is going on strong. President Obama has put together a budget that is essentially right in the middle of the road, but that is not good enough for Republicans or Democrats.

With the two parties still as split as ever on the most important issues, it is evident that any resolution is going to have to require enormous compromises from both sides.

AP

The goal of the United States government for the last few years has been to resurrect the American economy. One of the main issues with the economy is the ever-growing deficit. There have been many ideas on how to handle the situation, but none that have been accepted by both Republicans and Democrats.

President Obama has taken some time to himself these last few weeks. During that time, he has been looking over the big picture of the American economy. As a result, he has come up with a plan to decrease the national deficit by $4 trillion over the course of the upcoming twelve years.

In short, Obama’s plan is going to cut back on spending by the government and increase taxes for Americans, but will not hurt programs like Medicaid and Medicare.

Obama will be revisiting the issue of the tax cuts issued by former President George W. Bush. Obama wants to eliminate the cuts for families making over $250,000 per year. This is going to be a tough issue as we already know due to the strong support from Republicans for the tax cut to stay.

In addition, whenever the deficit is on pace to go over 2.8% of the GDP, Obama is looking to issue spending cuts throughout the government funding programs.

In his proposed deficit reduction plan, Obama asserted that by 2023, his Health Care Reform alone would save nearly half of a trillion dollars for the United States. In total, the Health Care Reform is projected to save a total of $1.5 trillion over the course of the next twenty-two years.

Obama said of the current state of the economy, “Doing nothing on the deficit is just not an option. Our debt has grown so large that we could do real damage to the economy if we don’t begin a process now to get our fiscal house in order.”

Obama is hoping that his plan can help Republicans and Democrats find a middle ground on the various issues they have.

Republicans want to cut spending and are asking to essentially change the values that the United States has stood for since we all can remember.

Democrats want to raise taxes and create a system where who your parents are plays less of a role into the success you might have in life.

It should be expected that the two sides would be at each other’s throats until a final plan is settled, but Obama has laid out the best possible groundwork for the two parties to get to a final agreement with as little bickering as possible.

Anyone who follows the actions of Congress knows that Democrats are liberal with their spending as they try to help those in need in order to make sure that everyone in the nation is taken care of. In addition, those who follow the United States government also know that Republicans are highly conservative with their spending and want to do what is best for the nation as a whole and not look out for every last individual in the state.

So, it should come as no surprise that the Republicans in the House of Representatives are preparing to propose a $6.2 trillion budget cut over the next ten years. The plan would completely change the size of the government.

If successful, the plan would highly conflict with President Barack Obama’s current hopes for a 2012 budget.

The government is already becoming notorious for struggling to agree on financial matters. Everyone is well aware that right now the government is working to make sure a shutdown does not occur as Republicans and Democrats cannot agree on a budget for the rest of the 2011 fiscal year.

The two sides have agreed that there needs to be a total of $33 billion in cuts, but are fighting tooth and nail about where the cuts are to come from.

The plan House Republicans are set to propose would change the way that Medicare and Medicaid operate. The rate of spending would roll back significantly as the hope would be to eliminate $4.4 trillion from the federal deficit.

The Republican behind the plan is Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. He is also the House Budget Committee Chairman. He titled his set of budget cuts, “The Path to Prosperity.”

The plan contains cuts to scientific research, medical research, social programs, and education. It also would decrease taxes for big corporations and wealthy Americans.

Democrats are likely to disagree with the Republicans on most aspects. Democrats are expected to propose an increase to the strictness of tax policy on oil and gas companies and wealthier Americans.

The overall goal of both parties is to cut back the national debt, which is always growing. Currently, the national debt is closing in on $14.3 trillion.

The two parties are going to battle on the matter for quite some time to come. However, with the House of Representatives being led by Republicans and the Senate being led by Democrats, neither side is likely to get the result that they are hoping for.

This should come as no surprise, but the economy of the United States the main concern of President Obama and every member of Congress.

Obama’s initial proposal on the budget for 2012 was not what one would describe as liberal. However, it is also not exactly conservative either. Obama put forth a proposal that was moderate and in the middle of the two parties’ ideals.

The President’s main goal is to stabilize the economy and to make sure that the national deficit and national debt do not continue to spiral out of control like they have been the last decade.

To do so, the President of the United States made it perfectly clear that both Democrats and Republicans would have to give up some of their demands and compromise to reach the right budget for stabilizing the American economy.

Obama said what was needed was an “adult conversation.”

He said, “what we need is a reasonable, responsible, and initially, probably somewhat quiet and toned down conversation about,” the compromises that need to take place. He also said, “I’m confident that will be the spirit that congressional leaders take over the coming months.”

While some have criticized his proposed budget as too costly since it would add $7.2 trillion to the national debt by 2021, Obama is not letting the statistic be used improperly.

With debt comes interest. It is not news that the government doubled the national debt during Bush’s presidency and that interest is accruing. The increase in the debt in the next 10 years has much more to do with the fiscal decisions of George W. Bush than it does with the proposed budget of Obama.

One of Obama’s objectives is to gain control over the costs of Medicaid and Medicare, as well as Social Security. The President said he is sure that with a mature conversation, Social Security would be figured out, but Medicaid and Medicare would need a lot of work due to the rising cost of health care.

Obama also wants to address tax reform.

Obama said, ”This is a matter of everybody having a serious conversation about where we want to go and then ultimately everybody getting into that boat at the same time so it doesn’t tip over.”

The biggest thing that needs to happen is for both parties to come together and put political games aside and truly do what is best for the people of the United States in the future.

The argument over the health care reform that President Barack Obama pressed so hard for seems to be never-ending. The House of Representatives, which has a strong Republican majority, has voted to repeal the reform already this month. Now, a judge in Florida is taking the stance that the reform is not even constitutional.

So far there have been over two dozen states filing lawsuits claiming that the reform is unconstitutional. The most prominent one has been in Florida.

With a ruling that he presented in a 78-page report, Judge Roger Vinson said that the part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that makes it mandatory for Americans to buy health insurance in the next three years or deal with fines is simply unconstitutional.

Vinson’s statement read, “I must reluctantly conclude that Congress exceeded the bounds of its authority in passing the Act with the individual mandate. That is not to say, of course, that Congress is without power to address the problems and inequities in our health care system.”

Vinson went on to say that because the one section of the bill is unconstitutional and must not be permitted, “the entire Act must be declared void.”

In Florida, it was also debated whether it was lawful or not to make each state increase their Medicaid so more citizens who are in the lower tax brackets and that are not insured can get coverage.

Some states are complaining that even with the assistance of the federal government in paying off the costs of Medicaid, the price tags are still too high for each individual state.

In other suits against Obama’s bill, there have been mixed results. In Virginia, the new law has been ruled unconstitutional as well. However, in two other cases, the health care reform has been ruled perfectly constitutional.

It is practically a certainty that the cases will all result in a huge battle in the Supreme Court.

It is expected that by the end of 2011, the Supreme Court will begin its evaluation of Obama’s health care reform in order to determine once and for all if it is unconstitutional or not.

Obama said of his bill and all of its requirements, “It’s the right thing to do, and I’m confident that the courts will uphold it.”

While it may seem as though it is asking a lot of the American people for all of them to have insurance by 2014, in a country where people like to have control of their fate, do Americans really want to have to depend on the government to help them pay for their medical bills if something were to come up?

However, Obama said that those who are not in a position to afford the health care and small businesses would be exempt of the decree.

President Obama even went so far as to send his ideas via letter to the two men writing the proposals for Congress, Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Max Baucus of Montana. Obama made it clear that he is open to proposals involving American’s taking responsibility when it comes to obtaining health care.

However, Obama realizes that a change to health care must be made as well as he said, “If we are going to make people responsible for owning health insurance, we must make health care affordable”.

One of his plans to make health care more affordable was to cut between 200 and 300 billion dollars from Medicare and Medicaid over the next decade on top of the already $309 billion proposed in his budget.

Obama said, “Americans should have the choice of a public health insurance option operating alongside private plans”. This would create more competition in the health care industry and thus force the rates to become more reasonable and the companies to become more honest.

Republican critics of the plan stated that eventually the private corporations would eventually lose out to the government-funded health care and create only one option for Americans.

Despite this, the fact that everyone in America would have health care is the most important factor. If a plan can be created and put into place, then the United States would be joining the rest of the world in universal health care and an all out better treatment of citizens.