Election buzz calmed down. Politicians back to work. by Milota Sidorova

U.S. President Barack Obama met with GOP leaders for the first time since Congressional elections held on Nov 2nd. As it was expected he would be in a difficult position, after loosing Democratic majority in the House. Democrats lost easy passage for their bills and this was the time when the future of threatening gridlock had to be decided. Though both sides seemed to be polarized, the meeting had to outline the atmosphere of future cooperation. And according to observers, the mood was rather wary, but not frozen. Obama met with House Speaker-in-waiting John Boehner and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell who became the possible substitute for the authority of Sen. John McCain. Discussion pointed out several topics – U.S.-Russian arm treaty START that was signed by both Presidents some time ago, yet it had to wait for vulnerable passage through both parliaments. Although it aimed for reducing the amount of nuclear weapons on both sides, Republicans have suggested their ! disagreement with the treaty. The second major point was tax cut policies aprooved by Democrats – according to this bill, families with the income under $250,000 would get extended tax cuts. Republicans wanted either to stop it or impose the same reductions also on people with high incomes, so instead of progressive taxes they wanted equal taxes. According to official projections this could make a deal, if Republicans passed tax reductions for few more years with the label temporary and Democrats imposed tax cuts on everyone. This would be the compromise for both sides. But this seemed to be too much for a meeting with wary and still polarized sides. Although the aim was to get „comfortable with each other presence“ and several outputs were described, it was far from cooperation. Later that day Obama held a press conference about the meeting so did Republicans who returned back to the Capitol to express their impressions.

related story (sgx18! 688): http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_congress;_ylt=An7xT6w7CY...

by Milota Sidorova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

Cantell TV is the fastest growing provider of digital broadcasting coupled with telecommunications, allowing people to easily control, view, upload and share digital content through proprietary interface coupled with free phone calls. Cantell TV is committed to delivering infinite choices to your world of entertainment at the tip of your fingers.