News
Cliff
continued from page 5
“We’re going to be here New Year’s Eve,”
retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman said Sunday on
CNN’s “State of the Union,” adding that it
was likely the nation would go over the fis-
cal cliff.
Failing to meet the year-end deadline on
striking a deal would amount to “the most
colossal, consequential act of congressional
irresponsibility in a long time,” said Lieber-
man, an independent from Connecticut who
caucuses with Democrats. “Maybe ever in
American history, because of the impact it
will have on almost every American.”
However, Norquist called the situation
part of a longer process.
“This is not a fight that begins and ends
the first week of January,” he said, predict-
ing “a regular fight” when Congress needs
to authorize more government spending and
raise the federal debt ceiling in coming
months.
“There the Republicans have a lot of clout
because they can say we’ll let you run the
government for the next month, but you’ve
got to make these reforms,” he explained.
Obama spoke separately Friday with
Boehner and Reid to try to salvage a fiscal
cliff deal by the end of year, then delivered
a previously unscheduled statement to
reporters at the White House.
He acknowledged what has become obvi-
ous: The broader deficit reduction deal he
seeks will probably come in stages, rather
than in the so-called grand bargain he and
Boehner have been trying to negotiate.
In particular, Obama called for Congress
to come back after Christmas and work with
him on a limited agreement to prevent tax
hikes on the middle class, extend unem-
ployment insurance and set a framework for
future deficit reduction steps.
Boehner’s spokesman said the speaker
will be “ready to find a solution that can
pass both houses of Congress” when he
returns to Washington, as now planned for
Thursday.
The GOP opposition to any kind of tax
rate increase has stalled deficit negotiations
for two years and led to unusual political
drama, such as McConnell recently filibus-
tering a proposal he introduced and Thurs-
day night’s rebuff by House Republicans of
an alternative tax plan pushed by Boehner,
their leader.
Boehner said at a news conference Friday
that his Republican colleagues refused to
back his plan, which would have extended
all tax cuts except for income of more than
$1 million, because of fears of being
blamed for a tax increase.
The negotiations with Obama on a broad
deficit reduction agreement hit an impasse
last week when both sides offered their
“bottom line” positions, Boehner said. In
what was considered as progress just a week
ago, the president and speaker made major
concessions but remained a few hundred
billion dollars apart.
Reid and other Senate Democrats say
House Republicans must accept that agree-
ment will require support from legislators in
both parties. He insisted that the Senate-
passed plan with Obama’s $250,000 thresh-
old, which polls show is strongly supported
by the public, would pass the House if
Boehner would allow a vote.
Some House Republicans have said they
would join Democrats in supporting the
president’s proposal in hopes of moving
past the volatile issue to focus on the spend-
ing cuts and entitlement reforms they seek.
The possibility of a fiscal cliff was set in
motion over the past two years as a way to
force action on mounting government debt.
Now, legislators risk looking politically
cynical by seeking to weaken the measures
enacted to try to force them to confront
tough questions regarding deficit reduction,
such as reforms to popular entitlement pro-
grams such as Social Security, Medicare
and Medicaid.
Polling has consistently shown most
Americans back the president, who insists
wealthy Americans must pay more, rather
than Boehner and his Republican col-
leagues, who have balked at tax rate hikes
and demanded spending cuts and entitle-
ment program reforms.
A new CNN/ORC International survey
last week found that just over half of
respondents believe Republicans should
give up more in any solution and consider
the party’s policies too extreme.
The two sides seemingly had made
progress early last week on forging a $2 tril-
lion deficit reduction deal that included new
revenue sought by Obama and spending
cuts and entitlement changes desired by
Boehner.
The president’s latest offer set $400,000
as the income threshold for a tax rate Mick Mulvaney, a Republican from South
increase, up from his original plan of Carolina, said GOP members were wary of
$250,000. It also included a new formula voting on a measure that stood no chance of
for the consumer price index applied to passing the Senate and being signed by
some entitlement benefits, much to the cha- President Barack Obama.
He also pushed back on suggestions the
grin of liberals.
Called chained CPI, the new formula episode reflected a failure of leadership
includes assumptions on consumer habits in from Boehner, pointing to broad opposition
response to rising prices, such as seeking to the Plan B measure from both moderate
cheaper alternatives, and would result in and conservative Republicans.
“This was not a fight that divided conser-
smaller benefit increases in future years.
Statistics supplied by opponents say the vatives and moderates within the party,”
change would mean Social Security recipi- Mulvaney said, also on “State of the
ents would get $6,000 less in benefits over Union.” “This was a legislation-specific
vote and not a vote on leadership.”
the first 15 years of chained CPI.
Lieberman told CNN chief political corre-
Liberal groups sought to mount a pressure
campaign against including the chained CPI spondent Candy Crowley on Sunday that
after news emerged this week that Obama failing to meet the year-end deadline on
was willing to include it, calling the plan a striking a deal would amount to “the most
betrayal of senior citizens who had con- colossal, consequential act of congressional
tributed throughout their lives for their ben- irresponsibility in a long time.”
“Maybe ever in American history,
efits.
On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sen. Joe because of the impact it will have on almost
Lieberman said prospects were poor for the every American,” he said.
The remaining option, Lieberman said, is
possibility of a debt-reduction deal by mid-
night on December 31. The retiring senator a smaller deal brokered in the Senate to
predicted Sunday that Washington would be stave off large across-the-board spending
bustling with negotiations as the clock ticks cuts set to be enacted at the beginning of
next year.
toward 2013.
“I’ve talked to a lot of Republican col-
“We’re going to be here New Year’s Eve,”
Lieberman said. “In the aftermath of House leagues in the Senate who are favorably
Republicans rejecting Speaker (John) inclined toward the idea to protect the mid-
Boehner’s so-called Plan B, it’s the first dle class from the tax cuts,” he said. “Let’s
time I feel it’s more likely that we’ll go over raise taxes on people over $250,000, and
the cliff than not,” he said, referring to the let’s stop those terrible cuts in defense,
failed attempt by the GOP leader to extend homeland security, education.”
tax breaks for Americans making under $1
million. Boehner, sensing he
lacked enough support from
GAMBLING TOO MUCH?
House
Republicans,
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Explaining the Plan B
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December 26, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 11