Colbert said if his quest for presidency doesn’t work out, he would be willing to throw his weight behind one of the other candidates. He said: “All they have to do is come kiss my ring like they did Donald
Tax talks focus on budget cuts
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans would cut federal employee benefits. President Barack Obama would raise fees for airline passengers and eliminate Saturday mail delivery. Democrats in Congress would charge employers higher premiums for federal pension guarantees.
As Congress returns from a three-week holiday break, those are a few of the ideas for how to pay for extending an average $20-a-week Social Security payroll tax cut through the end of 2012 without adding to the government’s long-term debt.
Obama and fellow Democrats insisted on taxing the wealthy to offset the deficit impact of the payroll tax cut and of providing jobless benefits to the long-term unemployed. While still useful as campaign fodder, that idea is largely a bygone one.
House and Senate negotiators are drawing on Obama’s budget and the work of the defunct congressional supercommittee on deficit reduction to come up with the $160 billion or so needed.
Colbert talks about ambitions
WASHINGTON (AP) — Comedian Stephen Colbert says that just because his name won’t appear on Saturday’s ballot in South Carolina’s Republican primary doesn’t mean he couldn’t become president, or even pope, someday.
In an oftentimes awkward, meandering interview on Sunday, Colbert told ABC’s “This Week” that he established a presidential exploratory committee last week that consists of “someone who is good with explosives,” a mountain climber and a brain in a jar. He likened himself to a “one-man Louis and Clark” expedition looking for his Sacagawea.
Colbert said if his quest for presidency doesn’t work out, he would be willing to throw his weight behind one of the other candidates. He said: “All they have to do is come kiss my ring like they did Donald Trump’s.”
