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President's effort to unite Senate Democrats on agenda

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    Will Obama be able to avoid sequestration?

  • Duration 3:57
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-- for more on president Obama's effort to unite senate Democrats to help push through his second term agenda.

Let's bring in our man Juan Williams he is a Fox News political analyst so so what's going on behind closed doors is this a little arm twisting by the White House what is this exactly.

Want well it is our existing John.

Because right now the president is trying to get Democrats in line for an alternative plan.

-- spending cuts and some -- tax hikes that would avoid the sequestration it's that they hit march 1.

The idea here John is that the economy's pretty fragile that.

We know from the end of last year when defense cuts took effect it had a effect the effect that dragging down.

He could -- economy during that last quarter so.

The president wants to avoid that he's saying we we can't simply cut our way to growth we have to have some.

Investments -- in spending for education and defense for example.

But he wants the Democrats to come up with an alternative.

To this strong across the board sequestration cut.

The -- -- are -- pointed out in his column today that you know and on on foxnews.com.

That 13 of the senate is going to be in office after this president leaves office and and they are not necessarily.

Ready to jump on board with some of his extremely liberal.

Proposals.

No in fact you know there there there proposals coming from house Democrats and senate Democrats that have to do with.

Increasing taxes in this alternative proposal -- sequestration increasing taxes.

On millionaires oil companies gas companies eliminating some of the farm subsidies.

These are the kind of low hanging fruit -- that the Democrats.

Wanna go at right now in terms of producing the added revenue.

What your your -- for a speaker Boehner and the Republicans including.

Budget committee chair Paul Ryan if they don't want to engage in any added our revenue or any added tax hikes.

With the way they look at it is they've already passed budget cuts.

In a budget plan that has not been dealt with by the senate so they'd be a look at this is about spending sequestration is about spending cuts.

So let's look at spending why are we looking at taxes.

Well in the meantime the Congressional Budget Office is it is telling us in that new report that borrowing is gonna hit 77%.

Of our GDP.

By the end of this decade in seven years.

Unless somebody does something is anybody in Washington is the president disturbed by that are the Democrats -- other -- the senate Democrats he's meeting with.

Yeah I think everybody's aware of it now the question that -- -- -- an interesting word disturbed you talk to the Democrat the Democrats are more like let's stabilize this you know.

This has doubled they went from about 35% to about seven.

Over the of course the last decade with the spending on the wars we had.

Unfunded new entitlements like prescription drug benefits and the like.

And of course we had the tax cuts some of which have now expired but for the most part which -- continued so.

That's the reason that you've seen this job now if you talk to the Democrat they say we can take some cut the long term spending cuts some of the tax hike.

That would -- stabilize it and that's -- But for Republicans especially speaker Boehner.

His instruction to Republicans is let's come up to a with a plan that in ten years -- balance this.

Issue let's get rid of this kind of tremendous debt.

The long term issue.

And that's what he wants to do whether it's possible I don't know because again if you really do what you have to be talking about down something like.

You know four billion dollars over that you all year over that period and that would have a tremendous the -- negative effect.

On the economy on job production is best.

Now well hello Greece that's that's down.

One phrase to think about here Juan Williams beat Juan Williams always -- -- period thanks goodbye.