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“I could end the deficit in 5 minutes,” he told Becky Quick. “You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.”

“You really don’t have any business by playing Russian roulette to get your way in some other matter,” he said. “We should be more grown up than that.”

“We had debt at 120% of GDP, far higher than this, after World War II, and no one went around threatening we’re going to ruin the credit of the United States or something in order to get a better balance of debt to GDP. We just went about our business, and people did it in a cooperative way.”

“You’re playing with fire when you don’t need to play with fire. We don’t need to tell the rest of the world that anytime people in Congress start throwing a tantrum that we’re not going to pay our bills.”

The bad news: the measures taken to avoid the fiscal cliff have added 74 billion dollars in new tax loopholes. Also, the Act did little to solve the financial problems of the United States.

The good news:
• Permanently extends tax cuts for middle-class families, 99 percent of American taxpayers and small businesses.

• Protects 26 million middle-class families from being hit by the Alternative Minimum Tax, including 60,000 in PA-13.

• Extends unemployment benefits for Americans seeking work.

• Delays across the board “sequester” cuts.

• Protects 47 millions seniors’ access to their doctors.

• Provides vital parity for transit, helping southeast Pennsylvanians families commute to work.

• Ensures our returning veterans have access to employment by extending business hiring tax credits.

• Extends the research & development tax credit vital to job creation in southeastern Pennsylvania’s economy.

• Provides 30 million homeowners with property tax relief.

• Helps millions of families better afford college with the tuition deduction.

THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. Over the last few weeks I’ve been working with leaders of both parties on a proposal to get our deficit under control, avoid tax cuts — or avoid tax hikes on the middle class, and to make sure that we can spur jobs and economic growth — a balanced proposal that cuts spending but also asks the wealthiest Americans to pay more; a proposal that will strengthen the middle class over the long haul and grow our economy over the long haul.

During the course of these negotiations, I offered to compromise with Republicans in Congress. I met them halfway on taxes, and I met them more than halfway on spending. And in terms of actual dollar amounts, we’re not that far apart.

As of today, I am still ready and willing to get a comprehensive package done. I still believe that reducing our deficit is the right thing to do for the long-term health of our economy and the confidence of our businesses. I remain committed to working towards that goal, whether it happens all at once or whether it happens in several different steps.

But in 10 days, we face a deadline. In 10 days, under current law, tax rates are scheduled to rise on most Americans. And even though Democrats and Republicans are arguing about whether those rates should go up for the wealthiest individuals, all of us — every single one of us — agrees that tax rates shouldn’t go up for the other 98 percent of Americans, which includes 97 percent of small businesses. Every member of Congress believes that. Every Democrat, every Republican. So there is absolutely no reason — none — not to protect these Americans from a tax hike. At the very least, let’s agree right now on what we already agree on. Let’s get that done.

I just spoke to Speaker Boehner and I also met with Senator Reid. In the next few days, I’ve asked leaders of Congress to work towards a package that prevents a tax hike on middle-class Americans, protects unemployment insurance for 2 million Americans, and lays the groundwork for further work on both growth and deficit reduction. That’s an achievable goal. That can get done in 10 days.

Once this legislation is agreed to, I expect Democrats and Republicans to get back to Washington and have it pass both chambers. And I will immediately sign that legislation into law, before January 1st of next year. It’s that simple.

Averting this middle-class tax hike is not a Democratic responsibility or a Republican responsibility. With their votes, the American people have determined that governing is a shared responsibility between both parties. In this Congress, laws can only pass with support from Democrats and Republicans. And that means nobody gets 100 percent of what they want. Everybody has got to give a little bit, in a sensible way. We move forward together, or we don’t move forward at all.

So, as we leave town for a few days to be with our families for the holidays, I hope it gives everybody some perspective. Everybody can cool off; everybody can drink some eggnog, have some Christmas cookies, sing some Christmas carols, enjoy the company of loved ones. And then I’d ask every member of Congress while they’re back home to think about that. Think about the obligations we have to the people who sent us here. Think about the hardship that so many Americans will endure if Congress does nothing at all.

Just as our economy is really starting to recover and we’re starting to see optimistic signs, and we’ve seen actually some upside statistics from a whole range of areas including housing, now is not the time for more self-inflicted wounds — certainly not those coming from Washington. And there’s so much more work to be done in this country — on jobs and on incomes, education and energy. We’re a week away from one of the worst tragedies in memory, so we’ve got work to do on gun safety, a host of other issues. These are all challenges that we can meet. They’re all challenges that we have to meet if we want our kids to grow up in an America that’s full of opportunity and possibility, as much opportunity and possibility as the America that our parents and our grandparents left for us.

But we’re only going to be able to do it together. We’re going to have to find some common ground. And the challenge that we’ve got right now is that the American people are a lot more sensible and a lot more thoughtful and much more willing to compromise, and give, and sacrifice, and act responsibly than their elected representatives are. And that’s a problem.

There’s a mismatch right now between how everybody else is thinking about these problems– Democrats and Republicans outside of this town — and how folks are operating here. And we’ve just got to get that aligned. But we’ve only got 10 days to do it.

So I hope that every member of Congress is thinking about that. Nobody can get 100 percent of what they want. And this is not simply a contest between parties in terms of who looks good and who doesn’t. There are real-world consequences to what we do here.

And I want next year to be a year of strong economic growth. I want next year to be a year in which more jobs are created, and more businesses are started, and we’re making progress on all the challenges that we have out there — some of which, by the way, we don’t have as much control over as we have in terms of just shaping a sensible budget.

This is something within our capacity to solve. It doesn’t take that much work. We just have to do the right thing. So call me a hopeless optimist, but I actually still think we can get it done.

And with that, I want to wish every American a merry Christmas. And because we didn’t get this done, I will see you next week.

END

Working together to strengthen our communities is at the core of our national values. New research indicates that this commitment to service burns brighter than ever

In the latest version of the Volunteering and Civic Life in America (VCLA) report published today by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), we see a series of encouraging trends.

According to the report, the national rate of volunteering has reached a five-year high. Other indicators all point toward rising levels of civic participation.

President Barack Obama, along with First Lady Michelle Obama, daughters Sasha and Malia, and Craig Robinson, participates in a service project at the Capital Area Food Bank in Washington, D.C., Nov. 21, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

For example, the report shows that roughly one in four adults (26.8 percent or 64.3 million Americans) volunteered through an organization, marking the highest rate since 2006. Two out of three citizens (65.1 percent or 143.7 million Americans) engaged in informal volunteering by doing favors for and helping out their neighbors. This represented a rise of nearly 10 percentage points from 2010.

The involvement of parents of school-aged children also stands out in the new report. They had a volunteer rate seven percentage points higher than the national average (33.7 percent compared to 26.8 percent). Of the parents who volunteer, 43.1 percent do so at schools or other youth service organizations, making schools a hub for volunteering and civic activity.

The author of today’s report, the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), is an active partner in making a difference in our nation’s schools from cradle to career. Through the AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs, its members and volunteers tutor, mentor, and educate more than three million disadvantaged youth, strengthening America’s future. And national service members are on the front lines of other efforts, such as the national and local response to Hurricane Sandy. In countless ways, these individuals are making a positive impact in classrooms and communities across the country.

Altogether, Americans volunteered approximately 7.9 billion hours in 2011. According to the report, this labor contributed an estimated value of $171 billion to the economy.

As more people are volunteering and strengthening local communities, they are contributing to our national renewal and economic recovery. The VCLA report provides important insight as to how service strengthens the social, civic, and economic fabric of our nation.

Righting this injustice would make a lot of government shenanigans come to light, and freedom would immediately be completely restored in America and beyond.