With only days to come up with a deal
to avoid the fiscal cliff, the White
House said “congressional stupidity”
was damaging the economy but that
an agreement could be reached if
Republican leaders don’t get in the
way.
President Obama cut his Hawaiian
vacation short and headed back to
Washington today while the Senate is
scheduled to reconvene on Thursday.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-
Ohio, said previously that he would
give House members a 48-hour notice
of any upcoming vote, which means
that the soonest the House could
consider a bill would be Saturday —
just two days before a deadline to
make a deal or trigger a rise in taxes
and steep budget cuts.
Boehner and other GOP leaders issued
a statement today following a
conference call saying: “The House has
acted on two bills which collectively
would avert the entire fiscal cliff if
enacted. Those bills await action by
the Senate. If the Senate will not
approve and send them to the
president to be signed into law in their
current form, they must be amended
and returned to the House.”
While Boehner put the onus on the
president and Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid, a White House official used
testy language to put the
responsibility back on Boehner and
Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell.
“What we need is for the Senate
Minority Leader not to block a vote
and for Boehner to allow a vote,” a
White House official told ABC News.
“The hits to our economy aren’t
coming from outside factors, they’re
coming from congressional stupidity.”
Reid’s plan would serve as a
Democratic counterpart to Boehner’s
plan B, which failed to gain enough
support for a vote last week. Boehner
left the ball in the Senate’s court
after withdrawing his plan Thursday.
Any plan from Reid is expected to
include extending the Bush tax cuts for
Americans making $250,000 or less.
Related: What if Bush tax cuts
expire?
This has been a sticking point for the
left and the right throughout
discussions. Democrats believe that
lower- and middle-class families
should keep the tax cut, while letting
it expire for households making more
than $250,000. Republicans counter
that no Americans should be forced to
pay higher taxes come Jan. 1, though
Boehner’s plan would have required
those making more than $1 million to
lose the cut.
Reid could also propose cuts to tax
deductions to generate more federal
revenue.
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