Speaker sellout: More Taxes, More Debt
[Obama, Boehner move closer to ‘cliff’ deal by Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane]
"President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner moved close to agreement
Monday on a plan to avert the year-end “fiscal cliff,” but they had yet to clear
several critical hurdles, including winning the support of wary House
Republicans.
Obama and Boehner (R-Ohio) huddled at the White House for 45 minutes Monday
morning for their third conversation in the past five days. Later, Boehner met
for an hour at the Capitol with his leadership team in advance of a briefing
Tuesday morning for the entire House GOP that could be a crucial test of
Boehner’s ability to sell the deal.
Behind the scenes, administration officials and senior Republican aides
continued to make progress. Obama laid out a counteroffer that included
significant concessions on taxes, reducing the amount of new revenue he is
seeking to $1.2 trillion over the next decade and limiting the hike in tax rates
to households earning more than $400,000 a year. Obama had previously sought
$1.4 trillion in new revenue, with tax increases on income over $250,000.
Obama also gave ground on a key Republican demand — applying a less-generous
measure of inflation across the federal government. That change would save about
$225 billion over the next decade, with more than half the savings coming from
smaller cost-of-living increases for Social Security beneficiaries.
In addition, Obama increased his overall offer on spending cuts and dropped his
demand for extending the payroll tax holiday, which has benefited virtually
every worker for the past two years. But he is still seeking $80 billion in new
spending on infrastructure and unemployment benefits and an increase in the
federal government’s borrowing limit large enough to avert any new fight over
the issue for two years.
Boehner has offered a one-year debt-limit increase, and the fresh stimulus
spending remains a sticking point, according to senior Republican aides, who
also complained that the overall deal remains too tilted toward new taxes.
“Any movement away from the unrealistic offers the President has made previously
is a step in the right direction, but a proposal that includes $1.3 trillion in
revenue for only $930 billion in spending cuts cannot be considered balanced,”
Boehner spokesman Michael A. Steel said in a written statement.
“We hope to continue discussions with the President so we can reach an agreement
that is truly balanced and begins to solve our spending problem,” he said.
Talks over the fiscal cliff have accelerated since Boehner made an offer Friday
to raise tax rates on income over $1 million and to delay a fight over the
government’s borrowing limit in exchange for significant cuts to health and
retirement programs..." Full text:
Obama, Boehner move closer to ‘cliff’ deal
by Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane
Ex 20:15,
Am 8:5
Related:
Boehner Adopts Pelosi Plan
