Obama's unserious offer

Washington Post:

President Obama demanded Thursday that Congress relinquish control over federal debt levels and approve at least $50 billion in fresh spending to boost the economy next year as part of a deal to avert the year-end fiscal cliff, senior Republican aides said.

The proposal, delivered Thursday by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner to top congressional leaders, also seeks $1.6 trillion in new taxes over the next decade, starting with an immediate increase in tax rates for top earners. It makes no concession to Republicans who want to raise cash by eliminaing tax breaks instead of raising rates.

In return, the president offered to find $400 billion in 10-year savings from federal health and retirement programs. But those savings would be wiped out, the Republican aides said, by Obama’s proposal to extend a slew of expensive policies, including emergency unemployment benefits and a temporary payroll tax holiday that is now set to expire at the end of the year.

Aides said that House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) had rejected the proposal.

After meeting with Geithner for about 45 minutes Thursday morning, Boehner announced his frustration with the offer, which was not yet made public, and with a negotiation process that he said has wasted nearly three weeks ot talks with “no substantive progress.”

“I’ve got to tell you, I’m disappointed in where we are and what has happened in the last couple of weeks,” Boehner told reporters. “I came here the day after the election and made it clear Republicans would put revenue on the table. ... But revenue is only on the table if there are serious spending cuts as part of this agreement. It’s the spending that is out of control.”

White House officials declined to immediately comment on the Republican description of their offer. But privately, administration officials expressed surprise at the level of Republican dismay over the proposal, noting that it closely mirrors the president’s 2013 budget request, as well as his recommendations to a congressional supercommittee charged with debt reduction last fall. The proposal on the debt limit, meanwhile, reflects policies first proposed by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) in the summer of 2011 and which have been in force ever since.

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Obama's proposal suggest he is nuts or he thinks Republicans are nuts.  It is clearly an unserious proposal based on the President's previous budget that did not get a single vote in either House.  If Obama had run on this proposal he would have lost the election.  It could be he is just a terrible negotiator.  It is also possible he may just want to go over the fiscal cliff and then blame Republicans for middle class tax increases.  But he will also saddle himself with recession which Democrats will have to defend in coming years.

I have posted before about his overrated intellect.  This is just more evidence of that.