Fiscal cliff action to come Sunday … maybe
Harry Reid returns to his office Friday after White House meeting (The New York Times/T.J. Kirkpatrick)
The United States Senate has the ball in its hands.
This afternoon’s White House fiscal cliff summit appears to have generated some movement toward a deal, with just more than 72 hours to go. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell both took the floor afterwards in an unusually conciliatory manner, pledging to work with their staffs to come up with a plan that can pass both Houses of Congress. Reid said “we’ll see what we can come up with.” McConnell said he was “hopeful and confident” that both sides will have a deal to take to their conferences shortly after 2 p.m. on Sunday. The words were noncommittal, but the tone was a vast improvement over the deep freeze of recent days.
That would likely be a short-term deal. President Barack Obama did not present a new plan at the meeting — a fact that, once leaked, caused a stock market dip — and told reporters this evening that he was “modestly optimistic:”
I’m optimistic we may be able to reach an agreement that can pass both houses in time. Sens. Reid and McConnell are working on such an agreement as we speak. If an agreement isn’t reached in time between Sen. Reid and Sen. McConnell I will urge Sen. Reid to bring to the floor a basic package for an up-or-down vote. … The American people are watching what we do here. Obviously their patience is already thin. This is déjà vu all over again.
House Speaker John Boehner also showed some wiggle room here. Democrats’ primary fear is that they go out on a limb on taxes and spending, and then the House does not bother to take it up. Boehner’s failure to whip votes on his “Plan B” did not inspire confidence across the hall. But with help from Democrats, Boehner can shepherd something to passage — it just might not be what the conservative base of his caucus likes. Here’s what a Boehner aide had to say after the White House meeting:
The Speaker told the President that if the Senate amends the House-passed legislation and sends back a plan, the House will consider it – either by accepting or amending. The group agreed that the next step should be the Senate taking bipartisan action.
This is a significant signal to the Senate that any Reid-McConnell accord would make it to the House floor. The details, as always, remain up in the air.
- By Daniel Malloy, Political Insider
For instant updates, follow me on Twitter, or connect with me on Facebook.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
407 comments Add your comment
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 29th, 2012
7:39 am
Shine: who is to pay for Bush’s unfunded Medicare Part D? Oh that too is Obama’s fault. I can do this all day.
———————
You know that Obozo made Part D even more expensive, right? You know that Obozo could have terminated “unfunded” Part D, right? Why didn’t he? And it’s being funded in the same way as Obozo’s failed “stimulus”…by borrowing from China.
What is it you can “do all day”? Remain ignorant?
liberalefty
December 29th, 2012
8:04 am
weetonmee
ramblings from a racist birther…lol..envy is ugly
liberalefty
December 29th, 2012
8:05 am
lilfairyfallout boy
is at it again…lol…
Politico
December 29th, 2012
8:33 am
Little Barry is playing an early morning gig
His band the “wailers and flailers” are a big hit over at Wingfield’s.
woody
December 29th, 2012
8:43 am
It’s all just a mishmash of cartoon characters, doing the Roadrunner/Wil-E-Coyote thing. One of them falls off a cliff, gets smashed by a big rock, then gets up and starts all over again. It is theater, and an allegory for life.
A hard lesson is learned when we elect creepos to Congress. Because, they actually end up in Congress. Where they are expected to function on some level.
An observer
December 29th, 2012
8:55 am
Where is the movement? I do not see it. Is the new plan that democrats are going to offer even more deficit spending and the country is supposed to accept this? What i see is even more spending for the benefit of doctors, farmers, and unemployed; and more tax cuts for the wealthy in the form of reductions to the alternative minimum tax, the estate tax, and increases in the threshold for increasing taxes to the wealthy. Is the country going to be pleased when the president announces that the fiscal cliff as been avoided by keeping the deficit over one trillion per year, and growing for these next four years under Obama. The rating agencies need to go ahead and reduce US debt to junk status right now.
clem
December 29th, 2012
8:56 am
let’s see: we have had repubs in control of house from 1995 to 2008 & 2011 til now; repubs in control of senate from 1995 to 2007 with blip when jeffords changed parties; and had control of prez from neutered clinton 1996 until 2009. and the ship hit the fan 2008. even the more ons on the right will have hard time explaining why they should be in charge. without big money they would be long gone. it might also be noted the filibuster has been used 400 from 112th congress on.
the dems are not always right either, but given recent history & the goons infiltrating the gop now, a slightly right center america (because they are older) will soon be slightly left center on social issues and maybe right center on fiscal. not far right. deal with it td, asshop & barry.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 29th, 2012
8:57 am
It would be so much fun watching the Obozo voters (the ones with paying jobs, that is) whining about their taxes increasing when Our President Bush’s tax cuts expire. The puppets have been hearing from their masters for ten years that the tax cuts were “only for the rich”. These low-information folks would no doubt be easily convinced that the evil Republicans had raised their taxes.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 29th, 2012
9:00 am
An observer: Is the country going to be pleased when [Obozo] announces that the fiscal cliff as been avoided by keeping the deficit over one trillion per year, and growing for these next four years under [Obozo].
———————–
Yes.
The parasites only care that Santa keeps bringing their gifts every month, the country be damned.
Politico
December 29th, 2012
9:04 am
Little Brain (barry) is on his step stool and singing away this morning..
Must have a new garanimals shirt and bib…..
Maybe his partner’s Criberius and the Crying Conservative will make an appearance as well
red herring
December 29th, 2012
9:07 am
just like obama’s pastor wright said–america’s chickens are coming home to roost. we continue to overspend our means and regardless of what pundits and politicians say that will be our downfall unless we deal with the spending issue. we need america to remain the land of the free and not become greece/spain/etc. socialism doesn’t work and hasn’t worked but we have immense forces touting it in our colleges, entertainment industry, and our media. we must downsize our federal government and it’s agencies and reduce spending. no real person/business/industry gets an automatic spending increase every year regardless of how well or poorly they did the previous year and neither should our federal government. we are taxed enough already.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 29th, 2012
9:10 am
The real fiscal cliff occurs when we’re unable to fix Obozo’s trillion-dollar deficit habit and foreigners stop loaning us money.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 29th, 2012
9:13 am
…and we won’t be fixing Obozo’s trillion-dollar deficit habit because the Moocher Majority will never allow it.
clem
December 29th, 2012
9:16 am
barry i can agree with that but bear in mind ryan’s budget had red ink for quite a number of years too. the prez should not have lifted the cola for fed folks until economy growing at 4% or better.
liberalefty
December 29th, 2012
9:18 am
lilfairyfalloutboy
what about the moochers who voted for ROMNEY…like you…lol…stop whining you sound like a petulant child
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
December 29th, 2012
9:29 am
The Republicans have a debt problem… A wopping $16 trillion dollars debt problem… The Republicans really need to start paying down their debt…
Wow, I guess you can smoke enough weed to make the democrats become fiscal conservatives.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
December 29th, 2012
9:35 am
President Francois Hollande’s 75 percent millionaire-tax is unconstitutional because it doesn’t guarantee equality for taxpayers, France’s top court ruled.
Ehehehehehehehehe, will you socialists be following the lead of the Mother Country?
I know, how could we ever achieve tax equality in the US when none of the libs pays taxes?
clanmack
December 29th, 2012
9:37 am
No one on this blog seems to factor in that without the stimuli that Bush started and O’Bama, continued there would be no recession, it would be a DEPRESSION that would make this recession look like a bump in the economic road. The Republicans have clogged the process with their extreme positions and unwillingness to compromise. All would agree that the debt, and deficit spending, needs to come down. All the posturing, in Washington, and on this blog is a bunch of whooie. No one seems to be willing to think this through, just have a chance to trumpet their opinions and to engage in name calling. None of it moves anything forward.
Ideas: Increase the income limit for Social Security and include capital gains-problem solved.
Restore the income tax on incomes that Bush gave away on incomes over $400,000. Increase the capital gains tax rates to 25%. Consider a cap on deductions.
Let Grover Norquist stand for election and see if he can then promote his “no new taxes” legislatively. Add in the permanent adjustments to the Alternate Minimum Tax once and for all-that has turned into a boondoggle for the government. Keep the Health Care Act and let it work. Change Medicare part D so the government can negotiate for drug rates like every other big drug buyer-make it free market and see how big Pharma adjusts. Anyone else have workable ideas that we can compromise on?
Georgia
December 29th, 2012
9:52 am
Merry MilkCliffmas! Happy NogCliffyear! Thank God Himself that nobody tried to work “frankenCliffmas” into the lexicon. MilkCliff. The wordsmiths are out of control. Where is the supervision? Of course there’ll be a deal that will disappoint everyone. Except Wallstreet, who is the real shepherd here. If the Too Big to Fails managed to control congress in 2008 when the entire congress voted against something hours before they voted for it, (the bailout hello), then we have to assume that those same specific Powers That Be are disciplining congress now. There will be a deal. They’ll announce it during one of the timeouts that Coach Mark will burn in the UGA bowl game.
Attack Dog
December 29th, 2012
9:58 am
Gerrymander all you want Dixiecans, folks know that you are fighting for tax cuts for those who derive the most of their income from “playing” for a living.
Attack Dog
December 29th, 2012
10:00 am
Sidebar: the wannabe Dixiecan who doesn’t have a pot to cook with that Obama mannequin lives in a Kentucky county where Lincoln’s grandfather once lived and whose citizens fought for the Union.
Attack Dog
December 29th, 2012
10:05 am
John Boehner and Mitch McConnell have dug a hole so deep that they have turned into a self-induced fiscal canyon and now want us to jump off the cliff to join them.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 29th, 2012
10:08 am
clem: ryan’s budget had red ink for quite a number of years too
——————–
Are you proposing that we balance the budget all in one or two years? Ryan’s plan is far superior to Obozo’s. Obozo’s “plan” is liberal fascism…growing government and spending as much as possible.
Attack Dog
December 29th, 2012
10:09 am
Questions for a Dixiecan. What was the federal debt in 2008? How much of the annual deficit is based on lower revenues because of tax cuts, fighting two wars, the establishment of TSA? Liberals will argue that fiscal conservative Dixiecans have been a myth this entire century.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 29th, 2012
10:09 am
Attack Dog: John Boehner and Mitch McConnell have dug a hole so deep
————————–
The Democrat Senate and Obozo both signed off on this fiscal cliff deal in 2011.
Just another effort on my part to help educate the low-information voters.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 29th, 2012
10:11 am
How much of the annual deficit is based on lower revenues because of tax cuts, fighting two wars, the establishment of TSA?
——————
Who’s been president the last four years and had a filibuster-proof majority? Did you elect Obozo to simply continue Our President Bush’s policies?
Just another effort on my part to help educate the low-information voters.
Attack Dog
December 29th, 2012
10:12 am
Which Ryan budget? The one with no numbers made more sense.
clem
December 29th, 2012
10:20 am
barry you have already proven by your prez prognostications you don’t know much…..you need to brush up on filibuster stuff and read this chart and tell me which party has had more control since 1996? especially before the 2008 crash.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_divisions_of_United_States_Congresses
can’t wait for your excuses, well, yes i can.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
December 29th, 2012
10:22 am
NEW ALBANY, Indiana (CNN) — President Bush vetoed a $600 billion spending bill Tuesday, accusing Democratic leaders of wasting money and plotting tax increases, then took his budget fight with Congress on the road.
Congress should cut spending “and send me a responsible measure that I can sign into law,” President Bush said.
“The majority was elected on a pledge of fiscal responsibility, but so far, it’s acting like a teenager with a new credit card,” he said in a speech in New Albany, Indiana.
Retired Soldier
December 29th, 2012
10:30 am
Attack Dog-
All those things were in place for years under Bush and while his deficits were bad, at worst they were half of Obama’s.
Let’s take a bit of a deeper look:
1. Obama was in favor of and extended the Obama tax cuts in 2010.
2. Fighting two wars? Obama followed the Bush withdrawal plan in Iraq and has expanded the war in Afghanistan, who is at fault?
3. TSA, Obama hasn’t changed a thing.
Facts really don’t help your view point do they?
liberalefty
December 29th, 2012
10:32 am
@aesoup
Who paid for the war in Iraq that America fought because of lies by the inept Bush administration? the tax payers thats who…
Attack Dog
December 29th, 2012
10:34 am
Filibuster-proof majority? ROTFLMAO 1. Who kicked the budget can down the road when Obama was elected? 2. Who failed to make Obama one term President? 3. Whose leadership used every trick to obstruct even simple legislation, and has made history as the worse Congress ever? 4. Who failed to pass an act to cover the bills (see 10:09) they created in time to keep the US credit rating from dropping, and now 5 Who is.blaming everything and everyone except themselves for losing the 2012 election.
Retired Soldier
December 29th, 2012
10:36 am
liberallefty-
You mean the war that most democrats in Congress voted for and the war that Obama could have stopped when he entered office but chose to follow the Bush withdrawal plan? Yes I am familar with that war.
Don’t forget the war Obama expanded and continues in Afghanistan, you know the war Obama is putting on a credit card.
Real Athens
December 29th, 2012
10:38 am
Spin it all you want, it won’t make the facts any different.
“Some lawmakers, pundits, and others continue to say that President George W. Bush’s policies did not drive the projected federal deficits of the coming decade — that, instead, it was the policies of President Obama and Congress in 2009 and 2010. But, the fact remains: the economic downturn, President Bush’s tax cuts and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq explain most of the deficit over the next ten years …”
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3849
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
December 29th, 2012
10:40 am
lib – Are you talking about the wars that both houses of Congress authorized?
And what lies are you talking about? Can you not hear obozo telling you he found the WMD in Syria, right where we told you it was?
Retired Soldier
December 29th, 2012
10:40 am
Attack Dod-
1. Both parties
2. Republicans, and we have only ourselves and the national media to blame.
3. Please review Congress of 2006-2010. Congress has been terrible, both parties.
4. Who hasn’t passed a budget in over three years? Whose budget was defeated in the Senate 99-0, Obama’s.
5. See answer two.
Retired Soldier
December 29th, 2012
10:43 am
Real-
Remember Obama extended the tax cuts expanded one war and took over two years to end the other. Nice try.
clem
December 29th, 2012
10:43 am
please athens, don’t confuse the tpers with facts
Dusty
December 29th, 2012
10:45 am
Hey, stop the cute talk (MIlkCliff, Dixiecan, etc) and speak in plain language. We need to get this straight.
There is a huge deficit. We need to cut spending to save money. Here are some GOALS.
Social Security ;was paid for by its recipients. It’s many ” addons” need study. Medicare, prescription drugs, colas and all such should be revised or eliminated.
We must defend our country. Only excesses in spending should be changed. Check it!
Raising taxes has brought about many revolutions. Rich people mostly worked or managed on their own to make money. Overtaxing them is not fair. Our constitution tells us that all citizens are equal in their rights. The rich are CITIZENS.
Inheritance is not the government’s money. Taxes have already been paid on it.
No country can support 50% non working, government dependent citizens. We must reduce the numbers in that catagory.
Governent must stop trying to manage business, farmers, milk, weather, energy and even education and health. If we are to remain a free country, we must promote independence in all parts of our government. It is not Santa Claus. It is not .Scrooge. It should be the minds of citizens working TOGETHER to maintain the greatness of our country. Freedom! We should demand it.
liberalefty
December 29th, 2012
10:45 am
@retired
yeah the war that the BUSH administration cooked up and lied about…THAT WAR…
Attack Dog
December 29th, 2012
10:46 am
Yep Obama signed off on the legislation to compromise to extend the middle class tax cuts and spending to spur the economy. Boehner, Boehner and the Dixiecans used their rhetoric to get the legislative language shovels for federal spending holes they help create that has lead to the fiscal canyon they have dug. Want proof of sorry GOP leadership? I don’t remember Pelosi not getting a bill out of conference or Reed filibustering his own bill.
liberalefty
December 29th, 2012
10:47 am
@asesop
yes the war that AMERICA FOUGHT BECAUSE BUSH looked like a fool on 9/11…never seen a prez look so weak and befuddled in all my life.
Real Athens
December 29th, 2012
10:48 am
“Facts really don’t help your view point do they?”
The simple facts are:
House proposes legislation and votes to send it to the Senate. The Senate ratifies, re-writes, removes and then sends it to the Executive branch for passage in to law or vetoes it and send it back to Congress.
Don’t pretend like the Executive branch is the be all, end all. Obama couldn’t repeal the Act that created the TSA by himself. There is no line item veto. The President followed the advice of his own military leaders.
He didn’t get us into this mess.
yuzeyurbrane
December 29th, 2012
10:57 am
td, so pleased to hear that you are against linked COLA for Social Security. That is something on which we can agree. The real problem is that CPI standard for COLA’s understates real inflation experienced by Seniors since it is based on prices for whole population. For example, its does not include health care price increases which are disproportionately a much bigger factor for Seniors. So we should have a Seniors only package of goods and services used to calculate Soc.Sec. COLA’s. Check with your DFACS social worker wife to see if she concurs with my analysis of the facts.
clem
December 29th, 2012
10:59 am
dusty, if businesses were ethical maybe, but most are corrupted at the top by the money:
http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/how-corporate-interests-killed-common-sense
while dems are perceived corrupt by giving way the cookie store to the less productive, the repubs give away the store to the corrupt at the top…..which party is for middle america?
Lil' Barry Bailout --OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 29th, 2012
11:03 am
Democrats had a filibuster-proof majority during the first half of Obozo’s first term. They could have “funded” Part D or repealed it. Instead, they made it more expensive. If you have a problem with Part D, take it up with your puppetmasters, puppets.
Lil' Barry Bailout --OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 29th, 2012
11:05 am
yuzey: For example, its does not include health care price increases which are disproportionately a much bigger factor for Seniors
——–
But Obozocare will reduce health care costs, right? So the COLA should be lower for seniors.
Rafe Hollister
December 29th, 2012
11:10 am
Hairy Reed and the Senate has been MIA for 4 years, now we expect them to come to life and save America. The Pretender in Chief will go to any length to keep from having to come up with something on his own, to present to the Congress and the Nation. He has never been one to want to get tied to his own positions or policies, might need to run a reverse at the last minute. Bad PR to go on record advocating something, you later threaten to veto.
This is the result of electing someone with no leadership skills and no experience in management or executive decisions. You wind up with someone making it up as they go along. He is constantly confronted with do I stick with my life long re-distributive ideology,which will probably wreck the economy and result in my legacy being tarnished, or do I do what is best for the economy and miss this chance to implement my ideology. He always chooses to just procrastinate on making any significant decision.
Kick it down the road again, Barry!!!
td
December 29th, 2012
11:10 am
I wonder if the AJC’s censors are the same as the Facebook censors. God I hate censorship as much as I hate gun control nuts.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” – Thomas Jefferson.
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/038484_Gandhi_quote_Facebook_censorship.html#ixzz2GSQduyWL
Let it come up for a vote
December 29th, 2012
11:16 am
Why won’t the Republicans allow a vote for a sensible deal? It would pass and all their rhetoric would go poof. Boehner is the worst Speaker in memory, what has he accomplished other than to cry?