American Morning
Obama intervening in budget battle 'better late than never'
The budget battle continues in Washington today with only a few days left for Congress to come to an agreement on the 2011 federal budget. If a deal is not reached by Friday at midnight, part of the government will shut down. President Obama has called a White House meeting Tuesday for Congressional leaders to try to reach a deal and avoid the shutdown.
So, how close is Congress to closing a deal? Today on American Morning, AM’s Christine Romans talks with Texas Republican Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a member of the GOP leadership involved with negotiations.
Hensarling tells AM that Obama stepping in is "better late than never." But, he says, not having a Senate bill is a problem. "I'm afraid the Senate probably wants to have a shutdown. They think it's in their political best interest."
For the full interview, watch here:
Rep. Price: Dems 'scalpel' budget cuts would lead to bankruptcy
Earlier on American Morning, New York Democrat Sen. Charles Schumer told AM’s Kiran Chetry the Tea Party and their proposed cuts were the "only thing standing in the way of an agreement" on the federal budget. Georgia Republican Rep. Tom Price responds on AM.
Rep. Price tells AM's Ali Velshi it is the Senate Democrats who have not acted yet. "They're negotiating with themselves right now," he tells AM. "What they need to do is act."
Price says it's up to the Senate Democrats to avoid a government shutdown.
Senator Mike Lee: Tea party isn't there 'to replace the Republican Party'
The Democratic and Republican caucuses are longstanding institutions on Capitol Hill but today the Senate is welcoming another organization as the Senate tea party caucus holds its first meeting. The caucus may have gotten off to a slow start with only three members, Founder Mike Lee of Utah, Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Rand Paul of Kentucky, but Lee joined American Morning and says the goal isn't to be a big organization. Lee argues, "even if it stays at three, it will fulfill its purpose of allowing people who sympathize with the Tea Party movement to communicate their ideas to the United States Senate." Lee states the goal isn't even to "to replace the Republican Party" but rather provide an alternative viewpoint to longstanding ideals. Watch Senator Mike Lee's full interview with American Morning's T.J. Holmes:
Rep. Cantor: President put forth ideas 'Republicans can work with him on'
"So tonight, I am proposing that starting this year, we freeze annual domestic spending for the next five years. This would reduce the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade, and will bring discretionary spending to the lowest share of our economy since Dwight Eisenhower was president."
-President Barack Obama, State of the Union Address, January 25, 2011
President Obama proposed a five year spending freeze on domestic spending in his State of the Union speech last night. It represents nearly a half trillion deficit reduction which the president admitted will be "painful" but many Republicans are saying the reform is too little too late. Representative Paul Ryan, delivering the GOP response to the State of the Union, said that the "president and the Democratic leadership have shown, by their actions, that they believe government needs to increase its size and its reach, its price tag and its power." But with the situation growing more dire, the parties will be expected to figure out a solution.
Representative Eric Cantor, R, Virgina, is the majority leader of the Republicans in the House and tells T.J. Holmes that he thinks he and the president have similar goals, "I think that like the president, I'm a results-driven kind of guy. I want to see something done" and that debt reduction may not be the only thing they agree on.
Sen. Rand Paul: U.S. tax burden means 'our companies can't compete'
Senator Rand Paul, R, Kentucky, is barely a freshman in congress but he is making his mark in Washington by releasing his own proposal for tackling spending and the federal budget. Paul says that too much of our federal budget goes to to entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare and that "our companies can't compete with foreign companies because our tax burden is too high."
Later this week Senator Paul will unveil his budget proposal that he tells Kiran Chetry will save nearly $500 billion dollars in one year alone. Paul explains just how he will do it on American Morning.
Avlon: 'It will take some political courage to reach across the aisle'
President Barack Obama's State of the Union address is tomorrow night and there is growing support behind Senator Mark Udall's proposal for Democrats and Republicans to sit together as opposed to abiding by party lines. More than 50 congress members have already claimed their "state dates" but the question is, will one-time seating arrangements turn into long-lasting bipartisanship?
CNN Contributor John Avlon says that although sitting together is a great symbolic gesture towards unity it is going to take genuine "political courage" to reach across the aisle on some of the issues facing congress ahead. He explains to Kiran Chetry on American Morning.
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